IFIC data shows net sales for exchange-traded funds increased significantly
Canadian investment funds continued along their divergent paths in November, according to the latest data from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).
ETFs saw net sales rise significantly to $5.1 billion, having held just below $3 billion for the previous two months, driven by equity and speciality asset classes.
Equity posted net sales of $2.8 billion, up from $551 million in October and almost double the amount recorded in November 2022 ($1.5 billion). Specialty saw net sales of $1 billion, ten times the previous month’s total and five times the total from November 2022, driven mostly by alternative funds.
While equity funds accounted for the largest inflows at 56% of total net sales, all major asset classes produced net sales for ETFs, with bonds at $582 million, balanced at $196 million, and money market funds at $452 million.
Year-to-date net sales were $33,848, up from $28,415 for the same period of 2022.
ETF assets gained $24 billion, or 6.9% in November to a total $369.3 billion.
Mutual funds
For Canadian mutual funds, November saw net redemptions of $8.6 billion, down from $12.5 billion in October and roughly in line with the year-ago figure.
Money market funds were the outlier, posting net sales of $1.3 billion with speciality also producing a positive figure ($397 million, double the October figure). The other asset classes posted net redemptions including balanced (-$6.6 billion), equity (-$3.3 billion), and bond (-$423 million).
November was the ninth consecutive month since March in which mutual fund net sales were negative and year-to-date net redemptions totalled $52 billion, up from $35 billion a year earlier.
Mutual fund assets gained $85.1 billion or 4.7% from October to a total $1.893 trillion at the end of November.
