The Low-Cost Leviathan kept the inflows lead last quarter among large fund firms as the overall group returned to positive flows territory, according to the latest data from the folks at a publicly traded investment research firm.

Salim Ramji Vanguard CEO, Board Member

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on September 2024 open-end mutual fund and ETF flows, excluding money-market funds and funds of funds. (Other asset management products, like CITs and SMAs, are also not included.***) More specifically, this article focuses on the 65 firms (down by one year-over-year from September 2023) with between 100 and 999 long-term mutual funds and ETFs each.

Vanguard led the way for a third quarter in a row, thanks to an estimated $48.913 billion in net inflows in the third quarter of 2024, up by $18.883 billion quarter-over-quarter from Q2 2024 and up by $29.356 billion Y/Y from Q3 2023. Other big Q3 2024 inflows winners included: State Street's SSGA, $29.252 billion (up by $29.316 billion Q/Q, up by $32.006 billion Y/Y); Schwab, $14.127 billion (up by $5.234 billion Q/Q, up by $9.459 billion Y/Y); Allianz's Pimco, $5.464 billion (up by $1.227 billion Q/Q, up by $3.466 billion Y/Y); and DFA, $4.661 billion (up by $3.56 billion Q/Q, up by $3.784 billion Y/Y).

Yet SSGA pulled ahead last month, thanks to an estimated $18.429 billion in September 2024 inflows. Other big inflows winners included: Vanguard, $17.283 billion; and Schwab, $4.93 billion.

On the flip side, T. Rowe Price took the outflows lead last quarter, thanks to an estimated $13.093 billion in net Q3 2024 outflows, up by $1.355 billion Q/Q and up by $2.461 billion Y/Y. Other big Q3 2024 outflows sufferers included: Voya, $10.948 billion (up by $9.597 billion Q/Q, up by $9.712 billion Y/Y); Jackson, $6.562 billion (up by $898 million Q/Q, up by $3.461 billion Y/Y); Capital Group (home of American Funds), $6.492 billion (down by $10.105 billion Q/Q, down by $9.082 billion Y/Y); and TCW, $5.354 billion (down by $1.222 billion Q/Q, up by $4.301 billion Y/Y).

Yet Voya took the outflows lead last month, thanks to an estimated $9.851 billion in September 2024 outflows. Other big outflows sufferers included: T. Rowe Price, $3.333 billion; and Jackson, $2.128 billion.

As a group, large fund firms brought in an estimated $35.464 billion in net September 2024 inflows, ending the month with $19.464 trillion in AUM across 24,166 funds. That compares with $19.105 trillion in AUM and 24,100 funds on August 31, 2024, with $18.333 trillion and 24,057 funds on June 30, 2024, and with $15.293 trillion and 23,508 funds on September 30, 2023.

As of September 30, 2024, large fund firms accounted for 64 percent of industry long-term fund AUM and 56 percent of long-term funds.

In Q3 2024, large fund firms brought in $68.466 billion in net inflows. That's an $85.136-billion net flows improvement Q/Q and a $100.59-billion net flows improvement Y/Y.

Across the whole industry, the 793 firms (up by two M/M and by 13 Y/Y) tracked by the M* team brought in about $54.963 billion in net September 2024 inflows. (That's up by $28.864 billion M/M and up by $67.209 billion Y/Y.) The industry ended September 2024 with $30.559 trillion in AUM across 43,123 funds. (That's up by $566 billion and 232 funds M/M, up by $1.831 trillion and 309 funds Q/Q, and up by $6.404 trillion and 854 funds Y/Y.)

In Q3 2024, the industry brought in $163.658 billion in net inflows. (That's up by $70.283 billion Q/Q and up by $159.82 billion Y/Y.)

***This caveat is particularly important for large fund firms, many of which are big players in the 401(k) business, where collective investment trusts (CITs) and separately managed accounts (SMAs) are commonly used alternatives to traditional mutual funds. 

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