Is it a harbinger of things to come? 401(k) funds followed their worst week since the August correction earlier this year with an even worse week just past. In a possible sign of consumer confidence in the U.S. economy overall (or lack thereof), the Investment Company Institute found investors are fleeing domestic mutual funds in favor of overseas options.
ICI reports investors moved $3.2 billion into funds that specialize in foreign shares in the latest weekly period.
Specifically, equity funds had estimated outflows of $1.56 billion for the week, compared to estimated outflows of $2.42 billion in the previous week. Domestic equity funds had estimated outflows of $4.76 billion, and estimated inflows to world equity funds were $3.20 billion.
So-called hybrid funds, which can invest in stocks and fixed-income securities, had estimated outflows of $3.56 billion for the week, compared to estimated outflows of $2.15 billion in the previous week.
Bond funds had estimated outflows of $527 million, compared to estimated inflows of $55 million during the previous week. Taxable bond funds saw estimated outflows of $1.85 billion, and municipal bond funds had estimated inflows of $1.32 billion.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
