Morningstar Reports U.S. Mutual Fund and ETF Asset Flows for April 2018

CHICAGO, May 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today reported estimated U.S. mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) asset flows for April 2018. In April, investors placed $18.2 billion into U.S. equity passive funds, compared with $10.5 billion of outflows from the previous month. On the active front, investors pulled $11.4 billion, compared with $11.0 billion in March. 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.

Morningstar's report about U.S. asset flows for April 2018 is available here. Highlights from the report include:

• Following two consecutive months of outflows, U.S. equity funds rebounded with estimated total inflows of $6.8 billion. Overall, trailing 12-month U.S. equity flows remain negative—to the tune of $42.6 billion, or a 0.6 percent decline.
• Taxable-bond and international-equity funds remained the leading asset classes in April, with flows of $25.3 billion and $11.1 billion, respectively.
• The Morningstar Categories with the highest inflows in April were large-blend, foreign large-blend, and ultrashort-bond funds, with respective inflows of $10.8 billion, $5.7 billion, and $5.6 billion. On the bottom-flowing list in April, large value saw the most outflows of $3.4 billion followed by muni national short, with outflows of $1.7 billion.  
• Among top U.S. fund families, Vanguard was near the top with $12.3 billion in inflows. In April however, BlackRock's iShares eclipsed that figure with $17.0 billion in inflows. Vanguard's year-to-date growth continues to slow year over year. Through the first four months of 2018, Vanguard took in $71.0 billion, in comparison to $141.5 billion during the same period of 2017.
• Among all U.S. open-end mutual funds and ETFs, Vanguard Total Stock Market Index, which has a Morningstar Analyst Rating™ of Gold, had the highest inflows of $4.4 billion in April. Bronze-rated iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF and Gold-rated Vanguard Total International Stock Index followed with inflows of $2.5 billion and $2.2 billion, respectively. On the bottom-flowing list in April, Silver-rated Fidelity Large Cap Stock Fund had the highest outflows of $1.3 billion. 

To view the complete report, please click here.

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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, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and institutional investors in the private capital markets. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $201 billion in assets under advisement and management as of March 31, 2018. The company has operations in 27 countries.

Morningstar's Manager Research Group consists of various wholly owned subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc. including, but not limited to, Morningstar Research Services LLC. Morningstar's Manager Research Group produces various ratings including the Morningstar Analyst Rating for funds and the Morningstar Quantitative Rating for funds. The Analyst Rating is derived from a qualitative assessment process performed by a manager research analyst, whereas the Morningstar Quantitative Rating uses a machine-learning model based on the decision-making processes of Morningstar's analysts, their past ratings decisions, and the data used to support those decisions. In both cases, the ratings are forward-looking assessments and include assumptions of future events, which may or may not occur or may differ significantly from what was assumed. The Analyst Ratings and Quantitative Ratings are statements of opinions, subject to change, are not to be considered as guarantees, and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. This press release is for informational purposes only; references to securities should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the securities.

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