Morningstar reported U.S. mutual fund asset flows for August.

Equity funds saw inflows of $1.6 billion for the month, with bonds funds continuing to see outflows. Morningstar reported that $15.5 billion left taxable bond funds and $11.8 flowed out of municipal bond funds.

Bonds experienced $81.9 billion in outflows since the end of April, but it's not so grim for all bond funds. Assets in bank-loan funds doubled over the past year and ultrashort bond funds have seen strong outflows, Morningstar reports.

Emerging market ETFs saw outflows in August but mutual funds investing in emerging markets had inflows, displaying the divide between institutional and retail investors, Morningstar reports. The report shows Fidelity [profile] , Capital Group's [profile] American Funds, Franklin Templeton [profile] and T. Rowe Price [profile] with outflows for funds this month, excluding money market funds and funds of funds. J.P. Morgan [profile] had the highest inflows in August with $1.8 billion. DFA [profile] had the second highest inflows with $1.6 billion.

Pimco was the biggest loser in the Morningstar report, with outflows of $11 billion in August and American Funds had $1.8 billion in outflows. Franklin Templeton and T. Rowe Price saw 1.75 and 1.45 billion in net outflows for the month. Fidelity saw outflows of $802 million in net outflows for August.

The Intermediate-term bond category saw the worst outflows for August at $18.1 billion, and high yield municipal bond, emerging markets bonds and high yield bond categories saw sizable outflows as well, the Morningstar report shows. The bank loan category saw inflows of $7.5 billion.

Morningstar today reported estimated U.S. mutual fund asset flows for August 2013. The fixed-income exodus continued in August, as mutual fund investors pulled $15.5 billion from taxable-bond funds and $11.8 billion from municipal-bond funds. Since the end of April, bond funds have seen outflows of $81.9 billion, with taxable-bond and municipal-bond offerings losing 1.6 percent and 6.6 percent of beginning assets, respectively. Morningstar estimates net flow by computing the change in assets not explained by the performance of the fund. Click here for a full explanation of Morningstar�s methodology.

Additional highlights from Morningstar�s report on mutual fund flows:

� Bond funds have not suffered universally. Assets in bank-loan funds have doubled over the past year, benefiting in the rising interest rate environment. Ultrashort bond funds, which have become a substitute for money market funds amidst low yields, have also seen strong inflows.

� Institutional and retail investors diverge when it comes to emerging markets, as ETFs, which appeal primarily to an institutional clientele, continued to see outflows from the asset class in August while mutual funds, largely held by individual investors, saw another month of inflows to emerging markets.

� After finishing 2012 as one of the top accumulating funds, assets in PIMCO Total Return have declined by $41.8 billion over the last four months�$26.1 billion from outflows and $15.7 billion from share price declines.

� Oakmark International, which has a Morningstar Analyst Rating� of Gold, had inflows of about $2.0 billion in August. The fund, managed by David Herro, Morningstar�s International-Stock Fund Manager of the Decade, has gained 37 percent over the last year.

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