Mutual fund and exchange-traded product (EPT) flows made a weak showing in 2015, although equity funds still topped the list despite lower year-over-year inflows.
That's according to data from Morningstar Inc., which found in its fourth annual Global Asset Flows Report that total flows in 2015, at $949 billion, were notably lower than the $1.4 trillion that flowed into funds globally in 2014.
The U.S. fund industry had new asset flows of $263 billion, Morningstar reported, which was down from $580 billion in 2014.
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Allocation funds gathered $171 billion, outpacing inflows of $132 billion for fixed-income funds, to become the global category group with the second-largest inflows. That was a notable change from trends observed in 2014.
Alternative funds experienced a second year of double-digit organic growth, the highest rate among global category groups, bolstered by investors seeking options to diversify and provide consistent returns in an environment of uncertainty for both equity and fixed income.
Vanguard stayed at the top of the heap in the fund industry, with index strategies growing ever more popular and driving growth. The majority of the firm's $251 billion inflow went to its passive funds, the report found, but its active funds also gathered inflows of $15 billion.
Among active fund providers, Fidelity and J.P. Morgan saw the highest 2015 inflows, collecting $57 billion and $23 billion, respectively.
The percentage of passive assets in equity funds surpassed the percentage of passive assets in fixed-income funds for all major regions, but the U.S. had the highest percentage of passive assets of all regions.
In fact, the U.S. exhibited the greatest divide between active and passive; here, active funds suffered outflows in 2015 and passive funds actually attracted inflows of approximately $400 billion.
When it comes to ETP assets, globally they reached close to $3 trillion by the end of the year. Equity ETPs hold the vast majority of assets; however, fixed-income and alternative offerings have experienced substantial growth. The U.S. accounts for the largest volume of ETPs globally.
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