Investors added a net $51.3 billion into mutual funds in January, the highest monthly figure in over three years, according to the February 2018 issue of The Cerulli Edge–U.S. Monthly Product Trends Edition.
Total asset value grew 3.4%, to more than $15 trillion. ETF assets grew 6.1% month-over-month to more than $3.6 trillion, attracting net flows of more than $76.0 billion and 2.2% organic growth (growth achieved by internal investments of the firm as opposed to mergers or acquisitions).
In response to the steady migration to index funds and ETFs, “many asset managers are looking to multi-asset-class investments as a way to reestablish their competitive position,” Cerulli said in a release. Retail wealth management firms, like institutional asset managers, can address specific risks in investor portfolios by creating packaged multi-asset-class investments, Cerulli believes.
Most advisors (81%) agree that active management is ideal for certain asset classes, the release said. “Across all channels, advisors reported that actively managed ETFs make up 11% of their allocation across both active and passive products,” Cerulli said. “While this may be a small sleeve of advisor portfolios, this allocation persists among larger practices.”
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