A Midwestern insurer took the lead last month among mid-size fund firms.

Michael Scott Spangler Nationwide Financial / Nationwide Funds Senior Vice President, Head of the Investment Management Group / President

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on October 2019 open-end mutual fund and ETF flows, excluding money-market funds and funds of funds. More specifically, this article focuses on the 78 firms (three more than in September) with between $10 billion and $100 billion each in fund AUM. 37 of those firms gained net inflows in October, up from 30 in September.

Nationwide took the lead last month among mid-size fund firms, with estimated net October inflows of $2.152 billion, up from $99 million in net outflows in September. Other big October winners included: Edward Jones' Bridge Builder, $1.596 billion (up from $317 million); First Trust, $1.045 billion (down from $1.592 billion); DoubleLine, $691 million (up from $690 million); and Credit Suisse, $645 million (up from $351 million in net outflows).

Nationwide also took the mid-size pack lead proportionately, with estimated net October inflows inflows equivalent to 12.09 percent of its AUM, up from 0.64 percent in September outflows. Other big October winners included: Credit Suisse, 5.95 percent (up from 3.42 percent in net outflows); Bridge Builder, 2.05 percent (up from 0.42 percent); Akre, 1.88 percent (up from 0.34 percent); and WCM, 1.7 percent (down from 3.16 percent).

On the flip side, October was a rough month for Harbor, which suffered an estimated $1.459 billion in net outflows, more than any other mid-size fund firm and up from $461 million in September. Other big October sufferers included: Harris' Oakmark, $1.077 billion (down from $1.254 billion); GMO, $993 million (up from $552 million); Macquarie's Delaware, $815 million (up from $155 million); and Waddell & Reed's Ivy, $716 million (up from $632 million).

Proportionately, AIG led the mid-size outflows pack last month, suffering estimated net October outflows equivalent to 3.29 percent of its AUM, up from 2.31 percent in September. Other big October sufferers included: Harbor, 3.26 percent (up from 1.03 percent); GMO, 2.97 percent (up from 1.64 percent); Rafferty's Direxion, 2.92 percent (down from 0.75 percent in net inflows); and Resolute's American Beacon, 2.29 percent (up from 1.42 percent).

As a group, the 78 mid-size fund firms suffered an estimated $1.672 billion in combined net October outflows, equivalent to 0.06 percent of their combined AUM. That's down from $3.299 billion and 0.13 percent in September.

Across the whole industry (M* tracks flows from 765 firms, down from 767 in September), long-term mutual funds and ETFs brought in $28.974 billion in net inflows in October, equivalent to 0.15 percent of industry AUM. That's down from $39.916 billion in net September inflows. Passive funds brought in $38.42 billion in net October inflows (down from $52.576 billion), while active funds suffered $9.446 billion in net outflows (down from $12.66 billion). 

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