Mutual funds shed $3.6bn in Q1, their lowest outflows in 10 quarters, according to data from Morningstar Direct.
After averaging $165.5bn in outflows per quarter since Q4 2021, sentiment seemed to have started turning for the vehicle in 2024. In January, outflows slowed to their lowest levels in a year ($7.2bn), and in February, mutual funds took in money for the first time in two years ($13.2bn). Nonetheless, mutual funds still ended Q1 in a negative, shedding $11.2bn in March. The last quarter when mutual funds had inflows was Q3 2021, when they won $65.8bn of new money.
‘I don’t know that I would call February a total anomaly, but for mutual funds, I would definitely expect more months of outflows than inflows to come,’ said Ryan Jackson, manager research analyst at Morningstar.
