Morningstar Reports U.S. Mutual Fund and ETF Asset Flows Through September 2011

CHICAGO, Oct. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today reported estimated U.S. mutual fund and exchange-traded fund asset flows through September 2011. Long-term mutual fund flows turned positive in September for the first time in three months with inflows of $3.8 billion. However, that did not necessarily signal positive sentiment, as inflows were tepid across most asset classes and U.S.-stock funds experienced additional outflows. Furthermore, outflows from money market funds no longer appear to be flowing into long-term mutual funds. For the year to date, including another $14.1 billion in September, investors redeemed about $70.0 billion more from money market funds than they added to long-term mutual funds. U.S. ETFs, which have seen just one month of net outflows in the last 12 months, added $4.1 billion in September. Nevertheless, total industry assets dipped below $1.0 trillion in September for the first time since December 2010.

Additional highlights from Morningstar's report on mutual fund flows:

• While U.S.-stock funds continued their run of outflows, losing another $6.9 billion during the month, September was the best month for the asset class since May. However, with the exception of large-blend funds, the eight other major domestic-equity categories all suffered outflows.
• International-stock funds saw positive, yet modest inflows of $3.2 billion. Diversified emerging-markets funds again accounted for the majority of these inflows. The category recorded inflows of $2.7 billion, its greatest monthly intake since March 2011.
• Taxable-bond funds bounced back in September with inflows of $3.5 billion after shedding $12.0 billion in August, but this monthly inflow is well below the three-year monthly average of $16.1 billion for the asset class.
• Municipal-bond funds enjoyed their best month in nearly a year with inflows of $1.7 billion.

Additional highlights from Morningstar's report on ETF flows:

• For the second consecutive month, taxable-bond ETFs had the strongest inflows of any Morningstar ETF asset class, collecting $5.0 billion.
• Behind taxable-bond offerings, international-stock ETFs, with $2.4 billion, realized the second-largest asset-class-level inflow in September.
• After managing inflows of just $394 million in August, U.S.-stock ETFs gave up $5.3 billion in September. Four of the five largest individual ETF outflows belonged to funds in the U.S.-stock asset class.
• Commodities ETFs experienced modest outflows of $200 million in September.

To view the complete report, please visit http://www.global.morningstar.com/septflows11. To view a video recapping September's U.S. fund flow trends, please visit http://www.morningstar.com/cover/videocenter.aspx?id=397197. For more information about Morningstar Fund Flows, please visit http://global.morningstar.com/fundflows.  

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 or future results.

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 individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar provides data on approximately 400,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 5 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 management subsidiaries and has more than $180 billion in assets under advisement and management as of June 30, 2011. The company has operations in 26 countries.

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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.