May was a good month for many of the fund firms with AUM between $10 and $100 billion. Firms like Ivy Funds and Harris Oakmark had large inflows that not only put them on top of the $10B to $100B but also placed them in the spotlight with firms like Vanguard and Schwab.

Thomas W. Butch Ivy Funds President

The fund flow information within this article was formulated from the exclusive data provided to us by Alina Lamy, a senior analyst of quantitative research at MorningStar

Ivy Funds placed first (among fund firms with AUM between $10 and $100 billion) for the month of May with $1.405 billion in net open-end mutual fund and ETF inflows, M* estimates. Not only did Ivys' net inflows achieve a high placement within this bracket but its net inflows also placed 6th within the entire mutual fund industry. Coming in second within the $10B to $100B bracket was Harris Oakmark with estimated net inflows of $1.21 billion. Other big winners included: First Trust Advisors, with $1.09 billion; Edward Jones' Bridge Builder Funds, with $957 million; and PGIM Investments, with $808 million.

Ivy Funds also placed first for the month of May on a relative basis with net inflows that were an estimated 3.55 percent of its total AUM. Morgan Stanley came in second with inflows that were an estimated 2.61 percent of its total AUM. Following Ivy and Morgan Stanley were: First Trust, with 2.43 percent; Bridge Builder, with 2.30 percent; and Harding Loevner, with 2.22 percent.

Despite a lot of positive gains for the month of May, there were still firms that suffered large amounts of outflows. The $10B to $100B firm that suffered the most was Harbor Capital Advisors with estimated net outflows of $1.555 billion. Following close behind it is Van Eck Associates Corp. with estimated net outflows of $1.426 billion. Other firms that suffered large outflows included: GMO Funds, with estimated outflows of $1.106 billion, Wells Fargo, with estimated outflows of $703 million, and Artisan Partners, with estimated outflows of $647 million.

On a relative basis, Van Eck suffered the most with estimated outflows of 3.91 percent of its total AUM. Allianz Global Investors comes in second with outflows 2.45 percent of its AUM. Other fund firms that suffered the most relative outflows in May included: Mass Mutual Life Insurance Co., with 2.34 percent; GMO, with 2.22 percent; and Harbor, with 2.21 percent.

Industry wide, long-term, active mutual funds did better in May, generating net inflows of $9.745 billion compared to Aprils' outflows of $10.513 billion. Money market funds and taxable bond funds also performed very well with money market funds bringing in estimated inflows of $11.549 billion and taxable bond funds bringing in inflows of $19.699 billion. Passive funds, international equity funds, municipal bond funds, and alternative funds also generated huge inflows adding up to an estimated $15.521 billion in total.

Meanwhile, long term, active commodities funds dipped in May, with estimated outflows of $24 million. Other areas that experienced outflows included: U.S. equity funds, with outflows of $16.152 billion; sector equity funds, with $1.328 billion; and allocation funds, with $2.439 billion.

The information garnered above regarding general industry performance was extracted from research conducted by Chicago-based investment research specialist Morningstar, who released its "Morningstar Direct Asset Flows Commentary: United States" report for May 2017. Lamy penned the report. 

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