Net industry flows positive in January as active gets more looks

Active institutional mutual funds gained a net $16.4 billion in January, their highest mark in more than 12 months. Passive managers gained a net $17.1 billion, about $7 billion above their 12-month average. Bond funds added a net $29.5 billion during the month, continuing their run of net monthly flows.

U.S. equity strategies were still negative for the month. The asset class has lost $17.6 billion in net outflows since February 2019. Since the end of 2018, U.S. equities, as measured by the S&P 500 index, have gained more than 30%.

Passive giants Vanguard, Fidelity and BlackRock led in net flows by managers. None of the three were among the largest gatherers of active assets. American Funds gained the most active assets with $2.8 billion in net inflows.