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 The inflows marked the funds' sixth straight week of net positive
demand. Riskier high-yield bond funds attracted $2.9 billion, with
the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF attracting $924
million - its biggest inflows since Lipper began tracking the
exchange-traded fund in 2007.
Stock funds attracted $4.3 billion in inflows, with all of the new
cash flowing into stock ETFs, which are thought to reflect the
behavior of the institutional investor. Stock mutual funds, however,
which are commonly purchased by retail investors, posted $216
million in outflows.
The inflows into higher-yielding bond funds and stock funds showed
heightened risk appetite after a stronger-than-expected U.S.
payrolls report for January. Bond investors were reassured, even as
the report suggested a greater likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate
hike by mid-year.
"There's definitely a little more risk-taking," said Jeff Tjornehoj,
head of Americas research at Lipper. "Investors still regard a rate
hike as speculative, and they're not threatened by that so much as
they are made more enthusiastic by this jobs report."
Funds that specialize in safe-haven U.S. Treasuries posted $126
million in outflows, marking their first weekly net withdrawal in
five weeks. That followed $5.2 billion in inflows the prior week,
which were their biggest in a year.
Safer investment-grade corporate bond funds attracted cash, albeit
less than high-yield funds, at $2.3 billion.
European stock funds attracted $339 million in new cash, marking
their third straight week of inflows despite fears of a Greek exit
from the euro zone.
Lipper's Tjornehoj also said meetings between euro zone finance
ministers during the period boosted hopes for Greece's status in the
euro zone.
Funds that specialize in energy stocks posted $667 million in
outflows, their biggest since last October. Oil prices ended a
three-day rally over the period.
"Anyone getting into energy is taking on Vegas odds right now -
they’re gambling," Tjornehoj said.
Low-risk money market funds attracted $2.8 billion, their first
inflows in six weeks.
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The weekly Lipper fund flow data is compiled from reports issued by
U.S.-domiciled mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.
The following is a broad breakdown of the flows for the week,
including exchange-traded funds (in $ billions):
Sector Flow Change Assets Assets Count
(%)
All Equity Funds 4.297 0.08 5,117.682 11,449
Domestic Equities 2.743 0.07 3,732.789 8,239
Non-Domestic 1.554 0.11 1,384.893 3,210
Equities
All Taxable Bond 7.676 0.33 2,309.938 5,964
Funds
All Money Market 2.828 0.12 2,378.096 1,275
Funds
All Municipal Bond 0.460 0.13 345.530 1,465
Funds
(Reporting by Sam Forgione; editing by Diane Craft and G Crosse)
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