For the first time in more than two years, someone other than Vanguard and BlackRock took the lead last month. Yet the duopoly still raked in billions, and the new leader is still a behemoth.

Abigail Pierrepont Johnson FMR (dba Fidelity Investments) Chair, President, CEO

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on April 2019 mutual fund and ETF flows (excluding money market funds and funds of funds). This article focuses specifically on the 28 firms (one more than in March) with more than $100 billion each in fund AUM. 16 of those firms gained net April inflows, while 12 suffered outflows.

Fidelity took the lead with an estimated $28.182 billion in net April inflows, up from $6.437 billion in March. Other big April winners included: BlackRock, $9.9 billion (down from $12.933 billion); SSgA, $7.327 billion (up from $1.511 billion); TIAA's Nuveen, $5.783 billion (up from $29 million in net outflows); and Vanguard, $5.494 billion (down from $21.813 billion).

Proportionately, Nuveen took the lead among the biggest fund firms, thanks to estimated April net inflows equivalent to 2.52 percent of its AUM, up from 0.01 percent in net March outflows. Other big April winners included: Fidelity, 1.68 percent (up from 0.4 percent); PGIM, 1.12 percent (down from 1.27 percent); SSgA, 1.09 percent (up from 0.23 percent); and Legg Mason, 0.88 percent (up from 0.49 percent).

On the flip side, April was a rough month for MassMutual's OppenheimerFunds, which suffered estimated net outflows of $1.819 billion, more than any other large fund firm and up from $569 million in March. Other big April sufferers included: T. Rowe Price, $1.56 billion (down from $2.858 billion); Franklin Templeton, $1.397 billion (down from $1.742 billion); Dodge & Cox, $1.228 billion (down from $458 million in net inflows); and John Hancock, $1.037 billion (down from $1.701 billion in net inflows).

OpFunds led the large fund firm outflows pack proportionately last month, too, with estimated net April outflows equivalent to 0.94 percent of its AUM, up from 0.3 percent in March. Other big April sufferers included: Hancock, 0.79 percent (down from 1.33 percent in net inflows); American Century, 0.66 percent (down from 1.51 percent); Janus Henderson, 0.65 percent (down from 1.51 percent); and Dodge & Cox, 0.59 percent (down from 0.23 percent in net inflows).

As a group, the 28 firms with more than $100 billion each in fund assets brought in an estimated $59.792 billion in net April inflows (accounting for 117.23 percent of net industry inflows!), equivalent to 0.38 percent of their combined AUM. That's up from $43.119 billion in March.

Across the whole industry (M* tracks flows from 775 firms), long-term mutual funds and ETFs brought in a combined $51.004 billion in estimated net inflows in April, equivalent to 0.27 percent of industry AUM. Passive funds brought in $65.543 billion, while active funds suffered $14.539 billion in net outflows. 

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