Active US equity mutual funds and ETFs saw outflows for the eighth consecutive month in October, while passive US equity funds had inflows for the ninth straight month, according to figures released by Morningstar.
Over the last 12 months, overall long-term passive flows have been nearly five times as large as active flows.
PIMCO’s firm-level outflows of USD49.4 billion were larger in October than in September, as investors continued to react to Bill Gross’ departure. Janus, with Gross on board, experienced its first month of net inflows in October after 36 consecutive months of redemptions. But Gross’ new fund, Janus Global Unconstrained Bond, accounted only for about one-third of Janus’ October inflows.
Four PIMCO funds were among the five active funds with the greatest redemptions in October. Among top asset-gathering active funds for the month, fixed-income offerings led the way. Metropolitan West Total Return Bond, which has a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Gold, took in USD6.7 billion, followed by Gold-rated Dodge & Cox Income with USD4.2 billion and unrated BlackRock Strategic Income with USD2.3 billion. On the passive side, Vanguard Total Bond Market Index had another strong month with inflows of USD5.5 billion.
