Bond Fund Outflows Continue
ICI's latest "Estimated Long-Term Mutual Fund Flows" shows that bond funds continue to see substantial outflows. It explains, "Total estimated inflows to long-term mutual funds were $1.16 billion for the week ending Wednesday, November 13, 2013, the Investment Company Institute reported today. Flow estimates are derived from data collected covering more than 95 percent of industry assets and are adjusted to represent industry totals.... Bond funds had estimated outflows of $7.57 billion, compared to estimated outflows of $4.26 billion during the previous week. Taxable bond funds saw estimated outflows of $6.43 billion, while municipal bond funds had estimated outflows of $1.13 billion." Bond fund assets had declined by $4.3 billion, $2.4 billion, and $5.5 billion the prior three weeks, almost $15 billion in October, and they had declined by four consecutive months prior to October (down $11.3 billion in Sept., $29.1 billion in Aug., $17.1 billion in July, and $59.8 billion in June. Since May 31, bond funds have lost approximately $132 billion in assets, while money fund assets have increased by over $60 billion. See also, FT's "Money market funds are clinging on through low rates".
