A niche ETF boutique took the lead last month as small fund firms' net flows swung positive.

Jonathan Krane KraneShares Founder, CEO

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on January 2020 ETF and open-end mutual fund flows, excluding money-market funds and funds of funds. More specifically, this article focused on the 154 firms (three more than in December) with between $1 billion and $10 billion each in fund AUM. 85 of those firms gained net inflows last month, up from 68 in December.

KraneShares took the lead, thanks to an estimated $684 million in net January inflows, more than any other small fund firm and up from $136 million in December. Other big January inflows winners included: USCF, $618 million (up from $68 million in net outflows); Payden, $340 million (up from $39 million in net outflows); Pacer, $228 million (up from $120 million); and Sterling Capital, $213 million (up from $33 million).

Proportionately, USCF took the lead last month among small fund firms, with estimated net January inflows equivalent to 28.4 percent of its AUM, up from 3.3 percent in December. Other big January inflows winners included: KraneShares, 20.3 percent (up from 4.9 percent); Trust for Credit Unions, 12.3 percent (up from 9.1 percent); GQG, 8.3 percent (up from 2.7 percent); and Innovator, 7.7 percent (up from 1.3 percent).

On the flip side, January was a rough month for CRM, which suffered an estimated $467 million in net outflows, more than any other small fund firm and up from $19 million in December. Other big January outflows sufferers included: Hennessy, $249 million (up from $60 million); Manning and Napier, $198 million (down from $29 million in net inflows); IVA, $134 million (down from $439 million); and Robeco's Boston Partners, $105 million (down from $204 million).

CRM led the small fund firm outflows pack proportionately, too, suffering estimated net January outflows equivalent to 43.6 percent of its AUM, up from 1.2 percent in December. Other big January outflows sufferers included: Hennessy, 5.3 percent (up from 1.2 percent); Chiron, 4 percent (up from 3.8 percent); Third Avenue, 3.4 percent (down from 6.8 percent); and Manning and Napier, 3.4 percent (up from 0.5 percent in net inflows).

As a group, the 154 small fund firms brought in an estimated $3.008 billion in net January inflows, equivalent to about 0.62 percent of their combined AUM. That's up from $1 million in net December outflows and accounts for 3.61 percent of net industry inflows in January.

Across the entire industry, the 767 fund firms tracked by the M* team brought in a combined $83.274 billion in net January inflows, equivalent to 0.4 percent of industry AUM and up from $67.673 billion in December. Passive funds brought in an estimated $65.959 billion in net inflows in January (down from $72.573 billion in December), while active funds brought in $17.315 billion in net inflows (up from $5.009 billion in net outflows. 

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