Net outflows from active funds surpassed $100 billion last month, even as net inflows into passive funds nearly quadrupled.

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on October 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.***

PGIM (including Advanced Series Trust) took the lead last month on the active side of the industry, thanks to an estimated $4.071 billion in net October 2022 active inflows, up month-over-month from $489 million in September 2022 and up year-over-year from $3 million in October 2021. Other big October 2022 active inflows winners included: Edward Jones' Bridge Builder, $938 million (up M/M from $89 million in net outflows, up Y/Y from $866 million in net outflows); Innovator, $817 million (up M/M from $473 million, up Y/Y from $116 million); American Century (including Avantis), $497 million (up M/M from $163 million, up Y/Y from $42 million); and Catalyst, $464 million (up M/M from $295 million, up Y/Y from $69 million).

BlackRock (including iShares) kept the lead on the passive side last month for the second month in a row, thanks to an estimated $29.889 billion in net October 2022 passive inflows, up M/M from $8.508 billion in September 2022 and up Y/Y from $20.003 billion in October 2021. Other big October 2022 passive inflows winners inclused: SSGA, $28.099 billion (up M/M from $86 million, up Y/Y from $11.55 billion); Vanguard, $12.667 billion (up M/M from $5.778 billion, down Y/Y from $20.011 billion); Schwab, $2.98 billion (down M/M from $3.149 billion, down Y//Y from $4.626 billion); and WisdomTree, $2.098 billion (up M/M from $1.924 billion, up Y/Y from $1.113 billion).

On the flip side, last month was another rough one for Vanguard's active funds, which kept the active outflows lead for the second month in a row, thanks to an estimated $12.32 billion in net October 2022 active outflows, up M/M from $8.979 billion in September 2022 and up Y/Y from $327 million in October 2021. Other big October 2022 active outflows sufferers incldued: Fidelity, $9.64 billion (up M/M from $7.048 billion, up Y/Y from $1.902 billion); Capital Group's American Funds, $8.326 billion (up M/M from $4.419 billion, down Y/Y from $1.095 billion in net inflows); Allianz's Pimco, $6.37 billion (up M/M from $5.951 billion, down Y/Y from $743 million in net inflows); and T. Rowe Price, $4.79 billion (up M/M from $4.619 billion, up Y/Y from $2.996 billion).

ProShares and ProFunds took the outflows lead on the passive side, thanks to an estimated $771 million in net October 2022 passive outflows, down M/M from $1.112 billion in September 2022 and up Y/Y from $557 million in October 2021. Other big October 2022 passive outflows sufferers included: Northern (including FlexShares), $340 million (down M/M from $529 million, down Y/Y from $143 million); Invesco, $310 million (down M/M from $1.129 billion, down Y/Y from $8.081 billion in net flows); SEI, $272 million (up M/M from $73 million, up Y/Y from $95 million in net inflows); and Barclays, $271 million (up M/M from $76 million, down Y/Y from negligible net inflows).

Overall, the 735 active fund firms tracked by the M* team (up M/M from 727 and up Y/Y from 721) suffered an estimated $101.864 billion in net October 2022 outflows, up from $97.389 bilion in September 2022 and down Y/Y from $5.324 billion in net October 2021 inflows. 237 firms gained net active inflows in October 2022, down from 251 in September 2022 and down from 371 in October 2021.

The 158 passive fund firms tracked by the M* team (up M/M from 155, up Y/Y from 153) brought in an estimated $79.909 billion in net October 2022 inflows, up M/M from $20.732 billion and up Y/Y from $78.71 billion. 66 firms gained net passive inflows last month, up M/M from 63 but down Y/Y from 86.

***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 example, as the T. Rowe Price team revealed earlier this month, in October 2022 their clients transferred about $700 million 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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