Funds Post $3.34 Billion in Outflows
Long-term mutual funds had estimated net outflows of $3.34 billion in the latest week as investors continued to pull money from equities, offsetting increases in bonds and hybrid funds, according to the Investment Company Institute.</br></br>The funds experienced steep outflows over the summer when investors retreated from a volatile stock market due to concerns about an uncertain economic outlook and the debt load in the U.S. and Europe. Investors have continued to consistently pull money from U.S. equities since August, while bonds and hybrid funds have seen mostly inflows so far this year.</br></br>For the week ended Dec. 7, equity funds had net outflows of $7.97 billion, compared with prior-week outflows of $9.62 billion. Investors withdrew $5.76 billion from U.S. equities and pulled $2.21 billion from foreign funds.</br></br>Meanwhile, ICI reported bond funds had inflows of $3.55 billion, compared with prior-week inflows of $1.15 billion. Investors added $2.09 billion to taxable funds, while inflows to municipal funds totaled $1.46 billion.</br></br>Investors added $1.09 billion to hybrid funds after prior-week outflows of $778 million. Such funds can invest in both stocks and fixed-income assets.