Passive inflows fell by nearly $74 billion last month, and active outflows rose by nearly $5 billion. Yet those outflows were more concentrated, even as more active firms' flows were in the black.

Timothy D. "Tim" Armour Capital Group Chairman, CEO, Equity PM

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on January 2022 open-end mutual fund and ETF flows, excluding money-market funds and funds of funds. The data also excludes other asset management products, like SMAs and CITs.***

Capital Group's American Funds took the lead last month on the active side, thanks to an estimated $3.726 billion in net January 2022 active inflows, up month-over-month from $3.109 billion in outflows in December 2021 and up year-over-yeaer from $1.444 billion in inflows in January 2021. Other big January 2022 active inflows winners included: DFA, $1.98 billion (up M/M from $947 million in net outflows, up Y/Y from $2.18 billion in net outflows); J.P. Morgan (including Six Circles), $1.162 billion (down M/M from $8.176 billion, down Y/Y from $5.627 billion); Baird (including Strategas), $1.124 billion (up M/M from $811 million, down Y/Y from $1.726 billion); and Calamos, $931 million (up M/M from $528 million, up Y/Y from $499 million).

Fidelity took the lead on the passive side last month, thanks to an estimated $15.912 billion in net January 2022 passive inflows, up M/M from $13.79 billion in December 2021 and up Y/Y from $8.277 billion in January 2021. Other big January 2022 passive inflows winners included: Vanguard, $14.72 billion (up M/M from $6.948 billion, down Y/Y from $32.144 billion); Charles Schwab, $4.661 billion (up M/M from $3.668 billion, up Y/Y from $3.819 billion); ProShares and ProFunds, $2.801 billion (up M/M from $865 million, up Y/Y from $289 million); and Rafferty's Direxion, $2.393 billion (up M/M from $788 million, up Y/Y from $89 million in net outflows).

On the flip side, last month was a rough one for Fidelity's active funds, which led the active outflows pack thanks to an estimated $4.895 billion in net January 2022 outflows, down M/M from $2.373 billion in net inflows in December 2021 and up Y/Y from $222 million in outflows in January 2021. Other big January 2022 active outflows sufferers included: Vanguard, $4.753 billion (up M/M from $2.429 billion, down Y/Y from $5.413 billion in net inflows); T. Rowe Price, $3.165 billion (up M/M from $2.663 billion, up Y/Y from $2.977 billion); Franklin Templeton, $2.48 billion (down M/M from $2.781 billion, up Y/Y from $98 million); and Ameriprise's Columbia Threadneedle, $1.986 billion (down M/M from $680 million in net inflows, down Y/Y from $1.209 billion in net inflows).

SSGA took the outflows lead on the passive side last month, thanks to an estimated $14.386 billion in January 2022 passive outflows, down M/M from $31.404 billion in December 2021 passive inflows but up Y/Y from $5.727 billion in January 2021 passive outflows. Other big January 2022 passive outflows sufferers included: BlackRock, $4.793 billion (down M/M from $29.548 billion in net inflows, down Y/Y from $4.906 billion in net inflows); Invesco, $2.313 billion (down M/M from $5.688 billion in net inflows, down Y/Y from $260 million in net inflows); T. Rowe Price, $1.238 billion (up M/M from $783 million, down Y/Y from $1.39 billion); and Principal, $643 million (up M/M from $267 million, up Y/Y from $438 million).

Overall, the 734 active fund firms tracked by the M* team (up M/M from 731 and up Y/Y from 699) suffered an estimated $13.138 billion in net active outflows in January 2022, up M/M from $8.299 billion but down Y/Y from $40.863 billion in net inflows. 413 firms gained net active inflows in January 2022, up M/M from 336 and up Y/Y from 383.

The 160 passive fund firms tracked by the M* team (up M/M from 158 and up Y/Y from 139) brought in an estimated $22.087 billion in net passive inflows in January 2022, down M/M from $95.932 billion and down Y/Y from $54.591 billion. 85 firms gained net passive inflows in January 2022, down M/M from 90 but up Y/Y from 80.

***This caveat is particularly important for jumbo fund firms, many of which are big players in the 401(k) business, where collective investment trusts (CITs) are a commonly used alternative to traditional mutual funds. For examples, as the T. Rowe team revealed earlier this month, in January 2022 their clients transferred about $2.2 billion out of T. Rowe mutual funds and into other T. Rowe products like CITs and SMAs. And T. Rowe is a big retirement plan provider and DC I-O asset manager, especially in the target-date fund (TDF) space. 

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