Trends in Mutual Fund Investing
December 2020

Washington, DC; January 28, 2021—The combined assets of the nation’s mutual funds increased by $621.19 billion, or 2.7 percent, to $23.90 trillion in December, according to the Investment Company Institute’s official survey of the mutual fund industry. In the survey, mutual fund companies report actual assets, sales, and redemptions to ICI.

Total Net Assets of Mutual Funds*
Billions of dollars

* Data for exchange-traded funds and funds that invest primarily in other mutual funds were excluded from the series.

Note: Components may not add to the total because of rounding.

Net New Cash Flow of Mutual Funds*
Millions of dollars

* Data for exchange-traded funds and funds that invest primarily in other mutual funds were excluded from the series.

Note: Components may not add to the total because of rounding.

Highlights: Long-term funds—equity, hybrid, and bond funds—had a net outflow of $20.39 billion in December, versus an inflow of $3.86 billion in November.

Equity funds posted an outflow of $77.54 billion in December, compared with an outflow of $36.22 billion in November. Among equity funds, world equity funds (U.S. funds that invest primarily overseas) posted an outflow of $28.41 billion in December, versus an outflow of $16.09 billion in November. Funds that invest primarily in the United States had an outflow of $49.13 billion in December, versus an outflow of $20.14 billion in November. The liquidity ratio of equity funds (the percentage of liquid assets over total net assets) was 1.9 percent in December, compared with 2.1 percent in November.

Hybrid funds posted an outflow of $4.21 billion in December, compared with an outflow of $2.79 billion in November.

Bond funds had an inflow of $61.37 billion in December, compared with an inflow of $42.86 billion in November. Taxable bond funds had an inflow of $51.87 billion in December, versus an inflow of $36.93 billion in November. Municipal bond funds had an inflow of $9.50 billion in December, compared with an inflow of $5.93 billion in November.

Money market funds had an outflow of $10.01 billion in December, compared with an outflow of $11.65 billion in November. In December funds offered primarily to institutions had an outflow of $8.78 billion and funds offered primarily to individuals had an outflow of $1.23 billion.

Number of Mutual Funds

* Data for exchange-traded funds and funds that invest primarily in other mutual funds were excluded from the series.

About ICI’s Data

Data for prior dates reflect revisions due to data adjustments, reclassifications, and changes in the number of funds reporting. For more information about ICI data and classifications, please visit our FAQs.

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