After a brief lapse, the biggest mutual fund firm in the world is back on top, at least when it comes to flows.

Mortimer J. Buckley Vanguard President, CEO

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on May 2019 mutual fund and ETF flows, excluding money market funds and funds of funds. More specifically, this article focuses on the 25 firms (three fewer than in April) with more than $100 billion each in fund AUM. 14 of those firms gained net May inflows, while 11 suffered outflows.

Vanguard regained the lead with an estimated $16.66 billion in net May inflows, up from $5.494 billion in April. Other big May winners included: Fidelity, $5.11 billion (down from $28.182 billion); Capital Group, $2.768 billion (up from $1.388 billion); Charles Schwab, $2.284 billion (up from $1.399 billion); and Pimco, $1.647 billion (down from $2.148 billion).

Proportionately, Schwab took the lead among the biggest fund firms, thanks to estimated May net inflows equivalent to 1.05 percent of its AUM, up from 0.61 percent in April. Other big May winners included: PGIM, 0.93 percent (down from 1.12 percent); Lord Abbett, 0.84 percent (up from 0.73 percent); TIAA's Nuveen, 0.7 percent (down from 2.52 percent); and Legg Mason, 0.66 percent (down from 0.88 percent).

On the flip side, May was a rough month for State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), which suffered estimated net outflows of $22.868 billion, more than any other fund firm and down from $7.327 billion in April net inflows. Other big May sufferers included: Invesco, $5.799 billion (down from $2.256 billion in net inflows); Franklin Templeton, $1.165 billion (down from $1.397 billion); American Century, $783 million (up from $716 million); and Jackson, $740 million (up from $390 million).

SSgA led the large fund firm outflows pack proportionately last month, too, with estimated net May outflows equivalent to 3.71 percent of its AUM, down from 1.09 percent in net April inflows. Other big May sufferers included: Invesco, 1.13 percent (down from 0.64 percent in net inflows); American Century, 0.76 percent (up from 0.66 percent); John Hancock, 0.55 percent (down from 0.79 percent); and Jackson, 0.44 percent (up from 0.22 percent).

As a group, the 25 firms with more than $100 billion each in fund assets brought in an estimated $2.766 billion in net May inflows (even as overall industry flows turned negative), equivalent to 0.02 percent of their combined AUM. That's down from $59.792 billion.

Across the whole industry (M* tracks flows from 778 firms), long-term mutual funds and ETFs suffered a combined $1.843 billion in estimated net outflows in May, equivalent to 0.01 percent of industry AUM. That's down from $51.004 billion in net April inflows. Passive funds brought in $96 million in net May inflows, while active funds suffered $1.939 billion in net outflows. 

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