Vanguard Funds Leak $3B in Rare Month of Net Outflows: Morningstar

Fidelity saw more than $3.6 billion in outflows overall in the quarter, while iShares experienced more than $8.8 billion in inflows, according to the firm’s data.

But the mutual fund giant reported positive cash flow for September, a Vanguard spokesman told ThinkAdvisor on Wednesday, noting Morningstar’s report doesn’t track money market funds and collective investment trusts. In the U.S., Vanguard recorded an aggregate $642 million of net cash inflows across mutual funds, ETFs and CITs, he said via email.

Vanguard doesn’t comment on competitors, the spokesman said, adding the company’s “primary focus is not cash flows but giving investors the best chance of investment success through thoughtfully-designed investment products and accessible, affordable advice.”

Longer term, Vanguard has been inching up on BlackRock’s lead in the ETF market. Bloomberg reported in August that Vanguard, No. 2 in ETFs, has been increasing its market share; at the time, its Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) had about $83.8 billion in assets, making it the largest bond ETF in the world, exceeding the $83.2 billion in iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG), Bloomberg reported.

Morningstar also reported that:

U.S. equity funds recouped their $6 billion in August outflows with a $7 billion intake in September, with passive large-blend funds continuing to lead the group. The passive large-blend funds collected $36 billion in the third quarter and $124 billion year-to-date through September.
Sector-equity funds experienced $14 billion in outflows in September as investors broadly sold off niche offerings. 
Alternative and nontraditional equity funds’ long inflow streaks continued, although their intakes were the weakest on an organic-growth basis in nearly two years.