Passive and bond funds way ahead in 2019 flows

Fixed-income mutual funds and ETFs brought in a net $411.9 billion through the first 10 months of 2019, while passive investments added $332 billion. By comparison, equity funds saw net outflows of $83.1 billion, and actively managed funds saw net outflows of $3.2 billion.

October net flows to passive vehicles were on par with the 2019 monthly average, but active's $6 billion in net outflows was an about-face from the previous nine month's $2.8 billion in net inflows. The outflows were squarely on active equity funds, which saw $30.9 billion of net outflows, while active bond funds added a net $24.9 billion.

Of the 10 largest managers, only the top three managed material net inflows in October as well as the rest of the year, with bond manager, PIMCO leading the rest of the group.