TORONTO - Canadians took $291.4 million out of mutual funds in October as net redemptions of short-term funds outpaced net sales of long-term funds, according to the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.
IFIC reported Monday that long-term funds gained $2.24 billion in net sales for the month, offset by $2.54 billion in net sales for short-term funds.
Industry assets totalled $573 billion, down from $582.7 million in September, but up from $522.4 billion in October 2008.
Leading the gain in long-term funds were balanced funds, which gained $1.62 billion in net sales, and bond funds, which gained $1.14 billion in net sales in October.
Equity funds saw $512.2 million in net redemptions, while specialty funds reported $3.3 million in net redemptions.
"Year-to-date, mutual fund investors have gained exposure to this recovery predominantly through balanced fund rather than equity fund purchases and we continue to see the bulk of long-term fund purchases going to the fixed income side of the business.
"To the extent that this reflects a determination among investors to better diversify their portfolios, then this is a good thing."
