Morningstar Reports U.S. Mutual Fund and ETF Asset Flows for May 2017

CHICAGO, June 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today reported estimated U.S. mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) asset flows for May 2017. In May, investors put $13.1 billion into U.S. equity passive funds, down from $17.1 billion in April 2017. On the active side, investors pulled $16.2 billion out of U.S. equity funds, compared with $16.8 billion in the previous month. Morningstar estimates net flow for mutual funds by computing the change in assets not explained by the performance of the fund and net flow for ETFs by computing the change in shares outstanding.

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

• On June 14, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate for the fourth time since tightening began in December 2015. However, investors continued to pour money into bonds. Taxable-bond funds were the overall leader among category groups, with inflows of $36.9 billion; international equity followed closely behind with inflows of $35.7 billion.
• The three Morningstar Categories with the highest inflows in May were foreign large blend, intermediate-term bond, and large blend. International-equity flows have been concentrated in foreign large blend, a category that invests in a variety of large-cap international stocks. Most of these portfolios divide their assets among a dozen or more developed markets, including Japan, Britain, France, and Germany.
• Among top U.S. fund families, PIMCO and American Funds had active inflows of $3.7 billion and $3.0 billion, respectively. Vanguard was the top fund family on the passive side, with inflows of $35.4 billion, followed by BlackRock/iShares with $18.3 billion in inflows.
• PIMCO Income, which has a Morningstar Analyst Rating™ of Silver, continued to dominate active funds in May with inflows of $2.8 billion. Gold-rated Oakmark International had inflows of $1.3 billion, the second highest among active funds.
• The passive fund with the highest inflows was Gold-rated Vanguard Total Stock Market Index, which saw $8.5 billion in inflows. iShares MSCI EAFE ETF was the beneficiary of large flows to the foreign-large-blend category and saw $4.1 billion of inflows.
• Gold-rated Harbor International appeared on the bottom five list of active funds, with outflows of $1.4 billion. On the passive side, iShares Russell 2000 saw the highest outflows of $4.9 billion.

To view the complete report, please click here. For more information about Morningstar Asset Flows, please visit http://global.morningstar.com/assetflows. 

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About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and institutional investors in the private capital markets. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $200 billion in assets under advisement and management as of March 31, 2017. The company has operations in 27 countries.

Morningstar's Manager Research Group consists of various wholly owned subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc. including, but not limited to, Morningstar Research Services LLC. Morningstar's Manager Research Group produces various ratings including the Morningstar Analyst Rating for funds and the Morningstar Quantitative Rating for funds. The Analyst Rating is derived from a qualitative assessment process performed by a manager research analyst, whereas the Morningstar Quantitative Rating uses a machine-learning model based on the decision-making processes of Morningstar's analysts, their past ratings decisions, and the data used to support those decisions. In both cases, the ratings are forward-looking assessments and include assumptions of future events, which may or may not occur or may differ significantly from what was assumed. The Analyst Ratings and Quantitative Ratings are statements of opinions, subject to change, are not to be considered as guarantees, and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. This press release is for informational purposes only; references to securities should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the securities.

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Media Contact:
Sarah Pellegrino, +1 312 244-7358 or sarah.pellegrino@morningstar.com

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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.