Bank Sales Of Mutual Funds Down Slightly

NU Online News Service, April 16, 3:00 p.m. – Banks sold $2.3 billion of long-term mutual funds in February, down 2% from the month before and 23% below the same month last year, when banks sold $3 billion worth of the funds, according to research by Kenneth Kehrer Associates, Princeton, N.J.

Lynn Niedermeier, president of Invest Financial Corporation, Tampa, Fla., notes banks did considerably better than other channels for mutual fund sales. Niedermeier, whose firm sponsored the study, cites data from the Investment Company Institute reporting that overall U.S. sales of long-term mutual funds were down 22% in February.

Kenneth Kehrer, head of the firm that conducted the study, notes that because February had four fewer business days than January, the average daily sales rate for mutual funds that month was actually 20% higher than in January.