December was a rough month for small fund firms, rougher than the entirety of 2018.

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on December 2018 and full-year 2018 open-end mutual fund and ETF flows (excluding money-market funds and funds of funds), and focuses specifically on the 151 firms (one more than in November) with between $1 billion and $10 billion each in mutual fund and ETF AUM. 32 of those firms gained net inflows in December (down from 52 in November), and 61 gained net inflows for the full year.

Clark Capital's Navigator Funds brought in an estimated $2.824 billion in net inflows in 2018, more than any other small fund firm and up from $413 million in 2017. Other big 2018 inflows winners included: Mirae (including its Horizon and Global X ETF businesses), $1.859 billion (down from $4.408 billion); Blackstone, $1.773 billion (up from $680 million); Pacer, $1.741 billion (up from $636 million); and Brinker Capital's Destination Funds, $1.556 billion (down from $8.206 billion).

Proportionately among small fund firms, Navigator also led the pack last year, thanks to estimated 2018 net inflows equivalent to 75.07 percent of its AUM. Other big 2018 inflows winners included: Ark, 71.71 percent; KraneShares, 63.28 percent; Pacer, 53.95 percent; and Semper, 44.82 percent.

Yet the picture looked very different in December. Baillie Gifford Funds brought in an estimated $430 million last month, more than any other small fund firm and up from $6 million in November. Other big December inflows winners included: Southeastern Asset Management's Longleaf Partners, $335 million (up from $853 million in net outflows); Akre, $241 million (up from $76 million); Pacer, $212 million (up from $57 million); and Blackstone, $191 million (down from $765 million).

On the flip side, 2018 was a rough year for Aberdeen Standard, which suffered an estimated $3.473 billion in net outflows, more than any other small fund firm and up from $1.138 billion in 2017. Other big 2018 outflows sufferers included: Royce, $2.122 billion (down from $2.682 billion); Hennessy, $1.863 billion (up from $725 million); IVA, $1.813 billion (up from $491 million); and BBH, $1.724 billion (down from $166 million in net inflows).

Proportionately, James Advantage led the small fund outflows pack, suffering estimated net 2018 outflows equivalent to 95.77% percent of its AUM (i.e. its 2018 outflows were roughly equal to the amount of AUM it had left after those outflows). Other big 2018 outflows sufferers included: Seafarer, 81.94 percent; Fairholme, 49.75 percent; Salient, 47.76 percent; and Vulcan Value Partners, 39.13 percent.

Like on the inflows side, the December outflows picture varied a bit from the full year. Boston Partners led the small fund firm pack with an estimated $1.203 billion in net outflows, up from $145 million in November. Other big December outflows sufferers included: IVA, $761 million (up from $248 million); BBH, $757 million (up from $31 million); Aberdeen Standard, $548 million (down from $707 million); and Royce, $503 million (up from $104 million).

As a group, the 151 small fund firms suffered an estimated $14.015 billion in combined net outflows in December, equivalent to 2.86 percent of their combined AUM. That's up from $2.2 billion in November.

For all of 2018, those same small fund firms suffered $12.188 billion in net outflows, equivalent to 2.49 percent of their combined AUM. That's down from $9.032 billion in net inflows in 2017.

Across the entire industry, long-term mutual funds and ETFs brought in a combined $162.401 billion in net inflows last year, equivalent to 0.96 percent of their combined AUM. That's despite $82.641 billion in combined net outflows in December alone, equivalent to 0.49 percent of the industry's combined AUM. Passive funds brought in $59.739 billion in net inflows in December, while active funds suffered $142.26 billion in net outflows. 

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