It was a year in which passive funds kicked in the teeth of active funds, while Vanguard ruled over them all, for the third year in a row.

Morningstar released today the November 2013 flow figures, which also included year-to-date figures.

The year may not be over yet, but Vanguard trounced the rest of the competition so much, garnering three-times the year-to-date flows of the number two firm that, baring some unprecedented miracle in mutual fund marketing, the index giant takes the crown. This will be the firm's third year in a row winning the honor, according to Morningstar. Vanguard has been first or second in terms of annual inflows by provider since 1994.

Here are the rankings in terms of flows for November, and Year-to-Date:

November Flows:
1. Vanguard $5.297 billion
2. Dimensional $2.612 billion
3. T. Rowe $1.455 billion
4. Goldman Sachs $1.382 billion
5. MainStay $1.285 billion

Year-to-Date Flows:
1. Vanguard $65.306 billion
2. Dimensional Fund Advisors $20.984 billion
3. JPMorgan $18.198 billion
4. MFS $17.360 billion
5. Goldman Sachs $12.772 billion

All in all, it was a healthy year for the industry. Morningstar reports that long-term mutual funds attracted inflows of $14.5 billion during the month to bring year-to-date inflows to $258.8 billion, a pace that should make 2013 the strongest for yearly inflows since 2009. Robust inflows combined with equity-market appreciation have pushed mutual fund assets to a record $10.8 trillion, up 30 percent since the peak seen in October 2008 prior to the financial crisis.

It was of course a good year for passive funds. Combining mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, funds in the U.S. equity Morningstar Category group have seen inflows of $121.1 billion in the year to date. according to the research firm. More than 100% of the net inflows are from passive funds, as active funds have had outflows of $10.0 billion. The outflows from active funds have been focused on large and growth style funds, while active value and small have actually had inflows.

It was also a good year for alts. Alternative mutual funds saw record inflows of $37.1 billion for the year to date, a 41 percent organic growth rate. The category group had inflows virtually every month over the past five years, but assets in the group make up just 1.2 percent of long-term mutual fund assets. Eight funds in the alternative category group had year-to-date inflows of more than $1.0 billion.

Read more in the Morningstar November 2013 flow figures.  

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