Long-term equity investors not buying it

Long-term equity investors continued to shun the asset class in 2019 even as markets rallied in the third and fourth quarters. Bond funds, both mutual fund and exchange-traded funds, had positive net flows throughout the year even after returns leveled off in the second half.

Notable among equity flows was the stark difference between assets moving out of long-term focused mutual funds and more into tactically oriented ETFs. The former saw negative net flows in each period observed after January, while the latter had negative outflows in the down market months of May and August.