Active inflows more than doubled last month, while passive inflows rose by 13 percent.

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

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on June 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 $3.969 billion in net June 2021 inflows, up month-over-month from $2.869 billion in May 2021 and up year-over-year from $2.142 billion in June 2020. Other June 2021 active inflows winners included: Vanguard, $3.609 billion (up M/M from $2.202 billion, down Y/Y from $6.855 billion); BlackRock (including iShares), $3.163 billion (up M/M from $1.238 billion, up Y/Y from $2.38 billion); Baird, $1.985 billion (up M/M from $283 million, up Y/Y from $1.516 billion); and Lord Abbett, $1.847 billion (up M/M from $336 million, down Y/Y from $2.008 billion).

Vanguard kept the lead again on the passive side, thanks to an estimated $21.562 billion in net June 2021 passive inflows, down M/M from $30.974 billion in May 2021 but up Y/Y from $13.736 billion in June 2020. Other big June 2021 passive inflows winners included: BlackRock, $17.263 billion (up M/M from $13.932 billion, down Y/Y from $19.259 billion); Fidelity, $14.92 billion (up M/M from $9.571 billion, up Y/Y from $5.037 billion); SSGA, $10.598 billion (up M/M from $42 million in net outflows, up Y/Y from $160 million in net outflows); and Invesco, $6.029 billion (up M/M from $5.904 billion, up y/Y from $3.044 billion in net outflows).

On the flip side, last month was a rough one for T. Rowe Price's active mutual funds, which led the active outflows pack thanks to an estimated $3.639 billion in net active June 2021 outflows, up M/M from $2.184 billion in May 2021 but down Y/Y from $1.238 billion in June 2020 inflows. Other big June 2021 active outflows sufferers included: DFA, $1.872 billion (up M/M from $625 million, down Y/Y from $2.533 billion); Invesco, $1.437 billion (down M/M from $659 million in net inflows, down Y/Y from $3.438 billion); Harbor, $1.241 billion (up M/M from $542 million, up Y/Y from $149 million); and SEI, $1.154 billion (up M/M from $575 million, up Y/Y from $623 million).

T. Rowe also led outflows on the passive mutual fund side last month, thanks to an estimated $697 million in net passive June 2021 outflows, up M/M from $270 million in May 2021 but down Y/Y from $890 million in June 2020. Other big June 2021 passive outflows sufferers included: Rafferty's Direxion, $655 million (up M/M from $33 million, down Y/Y from $1.027 billion in net inflows); ProShares and ProFunds, $461 million (down M/M from $1.534 billion in net inflows, down Y/Y from $259 million in net inflows); Nationwide, $415 million (up M/M from $50 million, up Y/Y from $33 million); and SEI, $414 million (up M/M from $33 million, up Y/Y from $44 million).

Industrywide, the 703 active fund firms tracked by the M* team (up M/M from 696 in May 2021 but down Y/Y from 710 in June 2020) brought in an estimated $24.587 billion in net active inflows in June 2021, accounting for 23.3 percent of overall industry long-term inflows. That's up from $11.451 billion and 13.84 percent in May 2021 but down from $28.617 billion and 40.99 percent in June 2020. 401 firms gained net active inflows in June 2021, up M/M from 391 and up Y/Y from 306.

The 148 passive fund firms tracked by the M* team (up M/M from 147 in May 2021 and up Y/Y from 140 in June 2020) brought in an estimated $80.917 billion in net passive inflows in June 2021, accounting for 76.7 percent of overall industry long-term inflows. That compares with $71.314 billion and 86.16 percent in May 2021 and $41.205 billion and 59.01 percent in June 2020. 94 firms gained net passive inflows in June 2021, up M/M from 78 and up Y/Y from 67.

*** This caveat is particularly important for jumbo 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 July 13, in June 2021 their clients transferred about $2.8 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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