Active inflows fell about 74 percent last month, while passive inflows fell 24 percent.

Mary Callahan Erdoes J.P. Morgan CEO of Asset and Wealth Management

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. The data also excludes other asset management products, like SMAs and CITs.***

J.P. Morgan (including Six Circles) took the lead last month on the active side, thanks to an estimated $2.869 billion in net May 2021 inflows, down month-over-month from $3.74 billion in Apil 2021 and down year-over-year from $6.086 billion in May 2020. Other big May 2021 active inflows winners included: Vanguard, $2.202 billion (down M/M from $5.061 billion, down Y/Y from $4.048 billion); Pimco, $2.19 billion (up M/M from $1.868 billion, up Y/Y from $2.817 billion); Capital Group's American Funds, $2.128 billion (down M/M from $4.846 billion, up Y/Y from $1.636 billion); and Valic, $290 million (up M/M from $290 million, up Y/Y from $14 million in net outflows).

Vanguard kept the lead on the passive side, thanks to an estimated $30.974 billion in net May 2021 passive inflows, down M/M from $39.433 billion in April 2021 but up Y/Y from $3.478 billion in May 2020. Other big May 2021 passive inflows winners included: BlackRock (including iShares), $13.932 billion (down M/M from $16.35 billion, up Y/Y from $1.089 billion); Fidelity, $9.571 billion (up M/M from $9.337 billion, up Y/Y from $2.125 billion); Invesco, $5.904 billion (up M/M from $1.301 billion, up Y/Y from $3.389 billion); and Charles Schwab, $4.388 billion (down M/M from $5.45 billion, up Y/Y from $95 million in net outflows).

On the flip side, last month was a rough one for Fidelity's active funds, which led the active outflows pack thanks to an estimated $2.43 billion in net active May 2021 outflows, down M/M from $3.49 billion in April 2021 but up Y/Y from $1.052 billion in May 2020. Other big May 2021 active outflows sufferers included: T. Rowe Price, $2.184 billion (up M/M from $683 million, up Y/Y from $703 million); Ark, $1.906 billion (down M/M from $110 million in net inflows, down Y/Y from $699 million in net inflows); John Hancock, $1.33 billion (down M/M from $1.011 billion in net inflows, up Y/Y from $792 million); and Natixis, $1.083 billion (down M/M from $28 million in net inflows, down Y/Y from $147 million in net inflows).

On the passive side, Guggenheim (including Rydex) took the outflows lead last month thanks to an estimated $392 million in net passive May 2021 outflows, down M/M from $345 million in net April 2021 inflows and down Y/Y from $80 million in net May 2020 inflows. Other big May 2021 passive outflows sufferers included: Jackson, $350 million (down M/M from $10.288 billion in net inflows, down Y/Y from $286 million in net inflows); Goldman Sachs, $280 million (up M/M from $197 million, down Y/Y from $262 million in net inflows); T. Rowe, $270 million (down M/M from $713 million, down Y/Y from $1.314 billion); and Voya, $240 million, up M/M from $79 million, down Y/Y from $10 million in net inflows).

Industrywide, the 696 active fund firms tracked by the M* team (down M/M from 696 in April 2021 and down Y/Y from 712 in May 2020) brought in an estimated $11.451 billion in net active inflows in May 2021, accounting for 13.84 percent of overall long-term inflows. That's down from $31.465 billion and 25.04 percent in April 2021 and down from $17.995 billion and 54.53 percent in May 2020. 391 firms gained net active inflows in May 2021, down M/M from 432 but up Y/Y from 294.

The 147 passive fund firms tracked by the M* team (up M/M from 145, up Y/Y from 141) brought in an estimated $71.314 billion in net passive inflows in May 2021, accounting for 86.16 percent of overall long-term inflows. That's down M/M from $94.208 billion but up from 74.96 percent in April 2021, and up from $15.006 billion and 45.47 percent in May 2020. 78 firms gained net passive inflows in May 2021, down M/M from 87 in April 2021 but up Y/Y from 67 in May 2020.

***This caveat is particularly important for the largest fund firms, many of which are big players in the 401(k) business, where collective investment trusts (CITs) are a commonly used alternative to traditional mutual funds. For example, as the T. Rowe team revealed on June 10, in May 2021 their clients transferred about $0.5 billion out of T. Rowe mutual funds and into other T. Rowe products like CITs and SMAs. And T. Rowe is a big retirement plan provider and DC I-O asset manager, especially in the target-date fund (TDF) space. 

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