April’s fund stats reveal significant divergence between mutuals and ETFs
Canadian investment funds saw a clear divide in the choices made by investors in April, according to the latest industry statistics.
The data from the Securities and Investment Industry Association (SIMA, formerly IFIC) shows that Canadian mutual funds recorded net redemptions of $1.5 billion last month, following $1.3 billion in net sales in March and a three-year-high of $9 billion net sales in February.
It was the first net redemptions for mutuals since June 2024 and was heavily influenced by $2.6 billion in net redemptions for balanced funds ($1.7 billion net redemptions in March); and a sharp decline for bonds, which slumped to just $73 million net sales from $2.8 billion in the previous month, and money market funds which dropped to just $201 million net sales from $1.4 billion in the previous month.
There was a sharp swing in to net sales for equities ($372 million) which saw net redemptions of $2.4 billion in March while specialty net sales were more than halved to $438 million from $974 million.
Mutual fund assets totalled $2.218 trillion at the end of April, down by $39.6 billion or 1.8% since March.
Canadian ETFs meanwhile continued their strength despite market volatility. They recorded net sales of $7.2 billion in April, almost half the $13.9 billion in March, and driven by $4.9 billion of inflows into equity ETFs where three-quarters of net sales went to global and international funds. The equity class was down from $6.4 billion in the previous month.
All asset classes posted net sales, although bonds were down sharply to just $104 million from $4 billion in March, and money market funds dropped from $2.1 billion to $888 million. Balanced funds gained $1 million to $629 from March while speciality recorded net sales of $737 million from $641 million.
ETF assets totalled $546.4 billion at the end of April, down by $0.5 billion or 0.1 per cent since March.
