The Investment Funds Institute of Canada’s decision in mid February to stop publishing monthly sales results for individual fund companies is understandable, but it also reduces industry transparency and may signal the end of an era.

IFIC sales stats were already incomplete due to the withdrawal of one of the major firms, CI Investments Inc., several years ago. The quality of the data deteriorated further when another large, independent firm, Invesco Trimark Ltd., stopped reporting data late last year. And, in February, industry giant IGM Financial Inc. switched to reporting just its assets under management, not sales, in its monthly releases.

With some of the industry’s biggest players pulling back from monthly disclosure of their sales results, IFIC had little choice but to curtail its reporting, too. Still, the move is discouraging for the simple fact that it reduces the information investors receive. That said, it’s unlikely that this data had much of an influence on investors’ decisions.

In truth, the real impact of the change is more symbolic than substantive. It points to the lack of dynamism in the mutual fund industry these days.

Back in the 1990s, mutual fund sales were booming, and the proverbial rising tide was lifting all boats. Canadian households underwent a shift in savings behaviour at the time, moving away from low-returning GICs toward mutual funds.

At the same time, there also was a horde of upstart companies aggressively competing for their slice of this burgeoning business.

In recent years, however, the industry has settled into sedate middle age. Asset retention has become the focus at many fund companies. And the big banks have come to dominate the business. Now, more often that not, it’s just the bank-owned fund firms jostling among themselves for top position on the monthly bestseller list. Bank of Nova Scotia’s acquisition of the industry’s recent sales leader, Dynamic Mutual Funds Ltd., further cements that fact.

So, while IFIC’s decision isn’t the end of the world, it feels like the end of an era.