Leveraged index shops took the lead last month as midsize fund firms' outflows plummeted more than 96 percent.

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on April 2020 open-end mutual fund and ETF flows, excluding money-market funds and funds of funds. More specifically, this article focuses on the 72 fund firms (up from 68 in March) with between $10 billion and $100 billion each in fund AUM. 31 of those firms gained net April inflows, up from seven in March.

ProShares and ProFunds kept the midsize lead in April, with estimated net inflows of $4.693 billion, up from $4.218 billion in March. Other big April inflows winners included: Rafferty's Direxion, $1.792 billion (down form $3.539 billion); New York Life Investment Management's MainStay, $1.575 billion (up from $1.858 billion in net outflows); Morgan Stanley, $1.571 billion (up from $8.121 billion in net outflows); and Guggenheim (including Rydex), $1.516 billion (up from $1.841 billion in net outflows).

On the flip side, April was a rough month for DoubleLine, which suffered an estimated $2.493 billion in net outflows, down from $7.123 billion in March but still more than any other midsize fund firm in April. Other big April outflows sufferers included: Harris' Oakmark, $2.317 billion (up from $1.989 billion); First Eagle, $1.406 billion (down from $2.557 billion); Primecap, $1.278 billion (up from $1.162 billion); and Van Eck, $1.174 billion (down from $1.975 billion).

Proportionately, Primecap led the midsize outflows pack, with net estimated April outflows equivalent to 5.1 percent of its AUM, up from 4.9 percent in March. Other big April outflows sufferers included: Oakmark, 4.9 percent (up from 4.5 percent); AQR, 3.7 percent (down from 8 percent0; DoubleLine, 3.1 percent (down from 8.8 percent); and FPA, 2.9 percent down from 7.4 percent).

As a group, the 72 midsize fund firms suffered an estimated $2.865 billion in net outflows, equivalent to 0.11 percent of their combined AUM. That's down from $89.268 billion in March. 

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