Morningstar: International stocks and muni bonds top inflows in January

Morningstar reported estimated U.S. mutual fund and ETF flows for January 2016. After an unusual December in which U.S. equity led inflows by category group, international equity reclaimed its leading position in January with inflows of $9.9 billion. 

Highlights from Morningstar's report about U.S. asset flows in January:

• Municipal-bond fund flows have been positive since October and on the rise in the last two months, suggesting investors are seeking the safety and tax breaks of municipal bonds amid rising interest rates and bond market uncertainty. Meanwhile, taxable-bond funds have experienced volatile, mostly negative flows since June and lost $3.5 billion to outflows in January.
• Commodities saw higher-than-normal inflows of $3.3 billion in January, with passive funds collecting most of the new assets. Precious metals funds had their first notable inflow in six months, led by SPDR® Gold Shares with inflows of $1.4 billion.
• The panic in the high-yield market following the closure of Third Avenue Focused Credit in December has somewhat subsided, but concerns remain over the sector's resilience in an environment of falling oil prices. Outflows continued in January, but they were much smaller than the $11.2 billion that exited the category in December.
• Among active funds, DoubleLine Total Return and PIMCO Income were investor fixed-income favorites in January, along with equity offerings Cambiar International Equity, American Funds Europacific Growth, and American Funds American Balanced.

To view the complete report, please visit http://www.global.morningstar.com/janflows16.