Investors pulled back from equity, balanced mutual funds in March

IFIC figures show mutual, ETF fund assets increased compared to February

Investors pulled back from equity, balanced mutual funds in March
Steve Randall

Investment funds increased sales in March according to the latest figures from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

IFIC reported that mutual fund net sales totaled $1.8 billion and ETFs also recorded net sales of $1.8 billion.

The total net assets of mutual funds increased by $27.1 billion – or 1.8% - compared to February; while ETFs saw net assets rise by 2.2% or $3.8 billion.

That took total fund assets to $1.53 trillion for mutual funds at the end of March 2019; and to $172.8 billion for ETFs.

For mutual funds, there were net redemptions for balanced ($273m) and equity ($887m) funds while specialty funds saw net sales of $779m, up from $442m in February.

There was a large drop in total long-term fund sales, with a net $1,434m following a net $4,060m in February.

For EFTs, bond funds saw a sharp rise in net sales - $1,301m compared to $480m in February. Specialty posted net redemptions of $41m following net sales of $118m in February.

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