US bond funds gain most inflows in 19 weeks-ICI

By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Investors in U.S.-based mutual
funds pumped the most new money into bond funds in 19 weeks and
equity funds lost appeal for the fourth straight week on mixed
global economic data, figures from the Investment Company
Institute showed on Wednesday.
Bond funds attracted estimated net inflows of $7.61 billion
in the week ended Aug. 15, the most since early April, said ICI,
a U.S. mutual fund trade organization.
Equity funds had net outflows of $3.23 billion, recovering
somewhat from outflows of $3.68 billion the previous week but
still drawing their fourth straight week of outflows.
The benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.24 percent over the
reporting period after weak economic data from China, Japan, and
Europe weighed on markets.
Hybrid funds, which can invest in stocks and fixed income
securities, attracted $949 million in new money, the most in
five weeks and up from $800 million the previous week.
The following data show the ICI flows for the past five
weeks(all figures in millions of dollars):

7/18/2012 7/25/12 8/1/2012 8/8/2012 8/15/2012
Total Equity 653 -2,991 -6,866 -3,683 -3,227
Domestic 109 -2,121 -5,651 -3,561 -2,671
World 544 -870 -1,215 -122 -556
Hybrid* 900 735 630 800 949
Total Bond 6,460 5,763 5,089 7,200 7,606
Taxable 5,114 4,291 3,959 5,709 6,014
Municipal 1,346 1,472 1,129 1,490 1,592
Total 8,013 3,507 -1,147 4,317 5,327
*Hybrid funds can invest in stocks and/or fixed income
securities.