A $600-billion-AUM alternative asset manager's mutual fund business led the small fund firm pack last month, even as mutual fund and ETF industry inflows slipped.

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on May 2021 open-end mutual fund and ETF flows, excluding money-market funds and funds of funds. (Other asset management products, like CITs and SMAs, are also not included.) More specifically, this article focuses on the 168 firms (up from 167 in April 2021 and 151 in May 2020) with between $1 billion and $10 billion each in long-term fund AUM.

Small firms had $544 billion in total long-term fund AUM as of May 31, 2021, accounting for 2.46 percent of industry AUM. That's up from $538 billion and 2.08 percent on April 30, 2021. And it's up from $483 billion but down from from 2.49 percent on May 31, 2020.

101 small fund firms brought in net inflows last month, down from 113 in April 2021 but up from 61 in May 2020.

Brookfield took the lead last month, thansk to an estimated $391 million in net May 2021 inflows, up month-over-month from $472 million in net April 2021 outflows and up year-over-year from $78 million in net May 2020 outflows. Other big May 2021 inflows winners included: Pacer, $345 million (up M/M from $278 million, up Y/Y from $7 million in net outflows); Credit Suisse, $311 million (up M/M from $147 million, up Y/Y from $889 million in net outflows); GQG Partners, $266 million (down M/M from $387 million, down Y/Y from $434 million); and Aperture, $212 million (up M/M from $2 million, up Y/Y from negligible inflows).

Brookfield also took the lead proportionately last month, bringing in estimated net inflows equivalent to 17.9 percent of its long-term mutual fund AUM. Other big May 2021 inflows winners included: Aperture, 15.1 percent; Exchange Traded Concepts, eight percent; RiverPark, 6.5 percent; and Chiron, 5.4 percent.

As of May 31, GQG led the small fund firm pack for 2021, thanks to an estimated $2.276 billion in net year-to-date inflows. Other big YTD inflows winners included: Callahan Financial Services' Trust for Credit Unions, $2.043 billion; and AdvisorShares, $1.184 billion.

For the 12 months ended on May 31, 2021, GQG led the small fund firm pack thanks to an estimated $4.405 billion in net inflows. Other big inflows winners over the past 12 months included: Trust for Credit Unions, $3.574 billion; and Amplify ETFs, $2.31 billion.

On the flip side, last month was a rough one for Causeway, which suffered an estimated $690 million in net May 2021 outflows, more than any other small fund and up M/M from $17 million in April 2021 but down Y/Y from $956 million in May 2020. Other big May 2021 outflows sufferers included: Amplify, $243 million (down M/M from $73 million in net inflows, down Y/Y from $102 million in net inflows); AIG, $196 million (up M/M from $168 million, down Y/Y from $269 million); Osterweis, $131 million (down M/M from $77 million in net inflows, down Y/Y from $23 million in net inflows; and Milleis Investissements Funds, $101 million (down M/M from $354 million in net inflows, down Y/Y from $463 million in net outflows).

Causeway also led the small fund firm outflows pack proportionately last month, thanks to estimated net May 2021 outflows equivalent to 7.2 percent of its AUM. Other big outflows sufferers included: Amplify, 6.2 percent; the PFM Multi-Manager Series Trust, 3.7 percent; Acadian, 3.4 percent; and Milleis, 3.2 percent.

As of May 31, USCF led the small fund firm outflows pack for 2021, thanks to estimated net YTD outflows of $1.656 billion. Other big YTD outflows sufferers include: Fiera, $1.639 billion; and Causeway, $1.187 billion.

For the 12 months ending on May 31, 2021, USCF suffered an estimated $4.191 billion in net outflows, more than any other small fund firm. Other big trailing 12 months outflows sufferers included: FMI, $2.921 billion; and AIG, $2.578 billion.

As a group, the small fund firms brought in an estimated $2.652 billion in net May 2021 inflows, equivalent to about 0.49 percent of their combined AUM and accounting for 3.2 percent of overall industry long-term inflows. That's down from $5.744 billion, 1.07 percent of AUM, and 4.57 percent of industry inflows in April 2021, but it's up from $4.026 billion in outflows and 0.83 percent of AUM in May 2020.

In the first five months of 2021, small fund firms brought in an estimated $20.403 billion in net inflows, equivalent to 3.75 percent of their combined AUM and accounting for 3.31 percent of overall industry long-term inflows. For the 12 months ending on May 31, 2021, small fund firms brought in an estimated $15.31 billion in net inflows, equivalent to 2.81 percent of their combined AUM and accounting for 1.5 percent of industry inflows.

Across the entire industry, the 760 fund firms (down from 763 in May 2020) tracked by the M* team brought in a combined $82.763 billion in estimated net long-term fund inflows in May 2021, equivalent to about 0.32 percent of long-term fund AUM (which totaled $22.156 trillion). That's down from $125.673 billion in April 2021 but up from $33.001 billion in May 2020.

Active funds brought in an estimated $11.451 billion in net May 2021 inflows, down MOM from $31.465 billion in April 2021 and down YOY from $17.995 billion in May 2020.

In the first five months of 2021, long-term funds brought in an estimated $615.895 billion in net inflows, equivalent to 2.35 percent of their combined AUM. For the 12 months ended May 31, 2021, long-term funds brought in an estimated $1.023266 trillion in net inflows, equivalent to about 3.91 percent of their combined AUM. 

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