Morningstar Reports U.S. Mutual Fund and ETF Asset Flows for August 2014

CHICAGO, Sept. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. MORN, a leading provider of independent investment research, today reported estimated U.S. mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) asset flows for August 2014. Long-term mutual funds and ETFs attracted $32.6 billion of new investor cash in the month, driven by strong flows to international-stock funds and resurgent demand for fixed income. U.S. equity mutual funds and ETFs suffered outflows of $4.1 billion, dragged down by active U.S. equity funds, which saw their sixth-consecutive month of outflows. Morningstar estimates net flow for mutual funds by computing the change in assets not explained by the performance of the fund and net flow for ETFs by computing the change in shares outstanding.

Additional highlights from Morningstar's report about U.S. asset flows in August:

• Assets in long-term mutual funds and ETFs reached $13.9 trillion as of the end of August. While the majority of these assets are invested in actively managed funds, passive investments experienced an 11% organic growth rate compared with growth of just 2% for active funds during the trailing 12 months. 
• Taxable-bond fund flows exceeded flows into U.S. equity funds for every month this year. Year to date, taxable-bond mutual funds and ETFs have attracted new assets of $99.2 billion, while U.S. equity mutual funds and ETFs mustered just $3.5 billion year to date through August.
• Foreign large blend and diversified emerging markets led all categories in terms of inflows in August. Excluding PIMCO Total Return, which has a Morningstar Analyst Rating™ of Gold, active intermediate-term bond mutual funds and ETFs rebounded during the last six months. On the other side of the spectrum, the high-yield bond category had its two highest consecutive months of outflows on record in July and August.
• Among active fund providers, J.P. Morgan topped other firms in terms of inflows over the trailing 12 months, followed by Goldman Sachs and Oakmark. Vanguard continues to dominate flows through the strength of its passive lineup of mutual funds and ETFs.

To view the complete report, please visit http://www.global.morningstar.com/augflows14. To view a video recapping August's U.S. asset flow trends, please visit http://bit.ly/aug2014flows. For more information about Morningstar Asset Flows, please visit http://global.morningstar.com/assetflows. 

The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. References to and commentary about the above mentioned mutual funds should not be considered a solicitation to buy or sell that fund.

About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on approximately 473,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 12 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries and had approximately $169 billion in assets under advisement and management as of June 30, 2014. The company has operations in 27 countries.

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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.