December was a great month for State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) in terms of flows, though it couldn't quite catch the industry's 800-pound gorilla.

Chicago-based investment research specialist Morningstar recently released its "Morningstar Direct Asset FLows Commentary: United States" report for December 2017. As in past months, Alina Lamy, senior analyst of quantitative research, penned the report. (An abridged version of the report is publicly accessible, while the full report with appendices is available to Morningstar Direct users.)

This article digs into fund flows for December 2017. See our companion article for information on fund flows for the full 2017 calendar year.

Vanguard again led the pack, bringing in an estimated $21.591 billion in net inflows in December, up from $19.741 billion in November. SSgA jumped into second place last month, bringing in an estimated $18.146 billion in net inflows, almost seven times its $2.629 billion in November. Other big winners in December included: BlackRock, $9.03 billion; Charles Schwab, $4.248 billion; and Fidelity, $3.634 billion.

Proportionately, SSgA took the lead in December among the largest fund families, bringing in estimated inflows equivalent to 2.92 percent of its AUM. Other big December winners, proportionately, included: Schwab, 2.41 percent; First Trust, 2.05 percent; Guggenheim, 0.88 percent; and Pimco, 0.86 percent.

On the flip side, December was another rough month for Franklin Templeton, which again led the outflows pack, this time with estimated net outflows of $2.811 billion (up from $2.705 billion in November). Other big sufferers last month included: Invesco, $2.352 billion; T. Rowe Price, $2.099 billion; Harbor, $1.286 billion; and OppenheimerFunds, $946 million.

Proportionately among big fund firms, Harbor had the roughest December, with estimated net outflows equivalent to 1.86 percent of its AUM. Other big sufferers proportionately included: Voya, 1.01 percent; Dreyfus, 0.87 percent; Putnam, 0.86 percent; and Natixis, 0.86 percent.

Industrywide, long-term, active mutual funds suffered estimated net outflows of $7.81 billion in December. Yet money market funds brought in an estimated $43.788 billion in net inflows, and passive funds brought in $58.363 billion.

Within long-term, active mutual funds, the only winning categories last month were taxable bond funds, which brought in $10.23 billion in estimated net inflows, and international equity funds, which brought in $1.938 billion.

Meanwhile, long-term, active U.S. equity funds suffered estimated net outflows of $16.317 billion in December. Other suffering active categories last month included: sector equity funds, $1.68 billion; muni bond funds, $1.082 billion; liquid alts, $677 million; commodities funds, $215 million; and allocation funds, $7 million. 

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