The Vanguard Group saw an estimated $3.2 billion in net outflows in its mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in September, led by a rout in bond funds that gave the firm only its fourth month of outflows in the past decade, Morningstar reported recently.
The moves came in a month in which ETFs and mutual funds overall in the U.S. — excluding money market funds — experienced about $77 billion in outflows following meager inflows in August, according to Morningstar.
"Tumbling equity markets and declining bond prices made some investors head for the exits. Investors withdrew $77 billion from U.S. funds in September, their largest monthly outflows since April. Few areas of the market were spared as six of the 10 U.S. category groups shed assets," Morningstar wrote in its U.S. funds flow report for September.
Soaring interest rates continued to spook fixed income investors, as taxable-bond funds shed $35.8 billion and municipal bond funds saw $14.1 billion exit, the research firm said.
Vanguard saw net outflows in both categories, with more dollars leaving its municipal bond funds, according to Morningstar.
BlackRock's iShares have "won in the fixed income arena by a wide margin this year" as money flowed into its Treasury funds, giving iShares the overall year-to-date flows lead, $105.1 billion, over Vanguard's $79.1 billion in inflows through the third quarter, Morningstar wrote.
