On balance, mutual funds and ETFs saw net inflows for the month of April.
Source: Lipper
Notwithstanding recessionary concerns in Europe and the slowing economy in China, the biggest winners in the world of mutual funds were World Equity Funds and Mixed Equity Funds. According to a report by Lipper, April marked the “tenth consecutive month investors were net purchasers of fund assets, injecting $14.8 billion into the conventional funds…” and that “investors continued to pad the coffers of bond funds” despite interest rate concerns.
ETFs also showed across the board net inflows for the month of April, with notable mention being paid to income generating ETFs.
Source: ICI
Equity Income ETFs—with net inflows of $1.9 billion—once again showed that investors prefer yield in times of uncertainty. The group posted its fourth straight month of net inflows; Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) saw the majority of the new money at $539 million. Dedicated Short-Bias ETFs (+$1.4 billion) continued to attract new assets as more investors seemed to believe in a market correction coming.
Source: Lipper
Source: Lipper
Though it appears as though investors want to come out of hiding, they are doing so cautiously and with some trepidation.
