As fund flows slowed in February, among the smallest firms it was a shop tied to a Nobel-prize-winning economist that led the pack.

The information within this article draws from Morningstar Direct data on February 2018 mutual fund and ETF flows.

Fuller & Thaler brought in an estimated $97 million in net inflows in February, more than any other fund family with less than $1 billion in AUM, yet down from $133 million in January. Other big winners in February included: Motley Fool, $90 million; GQG, $89 million; RMB, $53 million; and Saratoga, $39 million.

On a relative basis, setting aside apparent newcomers, RMB led the smallest fund firms with estimated net inflows in February equivalent to 95.07 percent of its AUM. Other big winners last month, proportionately, included: Exponential ETFs, 59.99 percent; KKM, 59.51 percent; VolMAXX, 53.59 percent; and Innovation Shares, 51.02 percent.

There were also half a dozen apparent newcomers (i.e. firms where their AUM was equal to their monthly net inflows) in February. Those firms include: BOON, IQ Capital Strategy, Marmont Funds, Metaurus, Volshares, and Wealthfront.

On the flip side, February was a rough month for LJM, which suffered an estimated $143 million in net outflows, more than any other fund firm with less than $1 billion in AUM. Other big sufferers included: Balter, $85 million; SkyBridge, $75 million; FMC, $74 million; and Orinda, $70 million.

Proportionately, LJM also led the outflows pack among the smallest firms, with estimated net outflows equivalent to 1,083.24 percent of its AUM by the end of February (meaning the outflows were bigger than the AUM left in the funds when the month was over). Other big sufferers, proportionately, included: FMC, 35.33 percent; SkyBridge, 34.05 percent; Orinda, 30.34 percent; and Barrow, 30.05 percent.

As a group, fund families with less than $1 billion in AUM each suffered an estimated $10 million in net outflows in February, equivalent to 0.01 percent of their combined AUM. That's down from $1.763 billion in net inflows in January.

M* recently released a report about industrywide flows in February, and MFWire highlighted the biggest winners and losers among the largest fund firms. Across the whole industry, long-term active mutual funds suffered an estimated $12.943 billion in net outflows in February, down from $24.048 billion in net inflows in January. Money funds swung to $42.812 billion in net inflows, and passive funds brought in $5.253 billion. Within long-term active mutual funds, international equity funds, taxable bond funds, and commodities funds each had net category inflows in February, while U.S. equity funds, allocation funds, sector equity funds, muni bond funds, and liquid alts all suffered net outflows. 

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