The fund flows rebound continued last month, though the flows growth was concentrated on the passive side of the industry.

The information within this article draws from Morningstar Direct data on February 2019 mutual fund and ETF flows (excluding money market funds and funds of funds). This article focuses specifically on the 27 firms with more than $100 billion each in mutual fund and ETF AUM. 15 of those firms gained net inflows in February, while 12 suffered net outflows.

Vanguard kept the pole position for the second month in a row, leading the large fund firm pack with an estimated $20.548 billion in net February inflows, up from $19.688 billion in January. Other big February inflows winners included: Fidelity, $9.472 billion (up from $7.567 billion); BlackRock, $8.586 billion (up from $2.046 billion); Capital Group's American Funds, $3.273 billion (down from $4.651 billion); and DFA, $2.964 billion (down from $4.329 billion).

Proportionately, among the biggest fund firms, Lord Abbett took the lead thanks to estimated February net inflows equivalent to 1.28 percent of its AUM, up from 0.43 percent in January. Other big February inflows winners included: Schwab, 1.13 percent (down from 1.5 percent); Legg Mason, 0.89 percent (up from 0.69 percent); DFA, 0.71 percent (down from 1.07 percent); and Pimco, 0.65 percent (up from 0.34 percent).

On the flip side, February was a rough month for Dodge & Cox, which suffered an estimated $1.937 billion in net outflows, more than any other large fund firm and down from $621 million in net inflows in January. Other big February outflows sufferers included: John Hancock, $1.603 billion (up from $1.177 billion); OppenheimerFunds, $1.227 billion (up from $1.038 billion); Franklin Templeton, $1.204 billion (down from $1.831 billion); and Columbia Threadneedle, $622 million (down from $889 million).

Hancock led the large fund firm outflows pack proportionately last month, with estimated net February outflows equivalent to 1.24 percent of its AUM, up from 0.92 percent in January. Other big February outflows sufferers included: Dodge & Cox, 0.96 percent (down from 0.31 percent in net inflows); OpFunds, 0.65 percent (up from 0.56 percent); Axa, 0.46 percent (up from 0.4 percent); and Columbia Threadneedle, 0.43 percent (down from 0.63 percent)

As a group, the 27 firms with more than $100 billion each in mutual fund and ETF AUM brought in an estimated $49.779 billion in net inflows (accounting for about 93 percent of net industry inflows), equivalent to 0.33 percent of their combined AUM. That's up from $33.183 billion in January.

Across the entire industry (M* tracks flows for 782 fund firms), long-term mutual funds and ETFs brought in a combined $53.664 billion in estimated net February inflows, equivalent to 0.29 percent of their combined AUM (up from $38.941 billion in January). Passive funds brought in $42.184 billion in net February inflows, up from $27.216 billion in January, while active funds brought in an estimated $11.48 billion in combined net inflows, down slightly from $11.725 billion in January. 

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