Titans' outflows evaporated last month, as the industry's passive inflows collapsed.

Laurence D. "Larry" Fink BlackRock Chairman, CEO

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data for February 2023 mutual fund and ETF flows, excluding money-market funds and funds of funds. (Other asset management products, like collective trusts and SMAs, are also not included.***) More specifically, this article focuses on the eight firms (down year-over-year from nine in February 2022) with more than $500 billion each in total long-term fund and ETF AUM.

Jumbo fund firms held $15.937 trillion in total long-term fund AUM across 7,788 funds as of February 28, 2023, and they accounted for 67.84 percent of overall industry long-term fund AUM. That compares with $16.372 trillion, 7,775 funds, and 67.75 percent of industry AUM on January 31, 2023, and with $17.882 trillion and 68.2 percent of industry AUM.

Three of those jumbo fund firms brought in net inflows in February 2023. That's down month-over-month from five and down year-over-year from five.

Vanguard kept the lead last month, bringing in an estimated $14.264 billion in net February 2023 inflows, down month-over-month from $17.497 billion in net January 2023 inflows and down Y/Y from $28.124 billion in February 2022 infows. Other big February 2023 inflows winners included: J.P Morgan (including Six circles); and Invesco, $794 million (down M/M from $2.641 billion, up Y/Y from $2 million in net outflws).

Vanguard also leads the pack year-to-date, thanks to an estimated $31.83 billion in net YTD inflows as of February 28, 2023. The only other YTD inflows winner is J.P. Morgan, with $20.043 billion.

On the flip side, BlackRock (including iShares) took the outflows lead last month, thanks to an estimated $18.667 billion in net ouflows, down M/M from $4.868 billion in net January 2023 inflows and down Y/Y from $13.557 billion in net February 2022 inflows. Other big February 2023 outflows sufferers included: SSGA, $12.886 billion (down M/M from $3.897 billion in net inflows, down Y/Y from $7.752 billion in net inflows); and T. Rowe Price, $3.151 billion (down M/M from $6.018 billion, down Y/Y from $3.367 billion).

BlackRock also leads the outflows pack YTD, thanks to an estimated $13.602 billion in net YTD outflows as of February 28. Other big outflows sufferers included: T. Rowe Price, $9.164 billion; and SSGA, $8.988 billion.

As a group, the eight largest fund firms suffered $11.471 billion in net February 2023 outflows, equivalent to 0.07 percent of their combined AUM and accounting for 353.5 percent of overall industry outflows. That compares with $26.226 billion in net inflows, 0.16 percent of AUM, and 61.45 percent of industry inflows in January 2023, and with $51.583 billion in net inflows, 0.29 percent of AUM, and 107.8 percent of industry inflows.

In the first two months of 2023, the eight largest fund firms brought in $15.209 billion in net inflows. That's equivalent to 0.1 percent of their combined AUM and accounts for 36.81 percent of overall industry marketshare.

Across the entire industry, the 782 firms tracked by the M* team (down M/M from 783 and down Y/Y from 795) suffered an estimated $3.245 billion in net February 2023 outflows, equivalent to 0.01 percent of their combined long-term fund AUM of $23.493 trillion. That compares with $42.682 billion in net inflows and 0.18 percent of industry AUM in January 2023, and with $47.85 billion in net inflows and 0.18 percent of AUM in February 2022.

Passive funds brought in $4.034 billion in net long-term fund inflows in February 2023, down M/M from $47.436 billion in January 2023 and down Y/Y from $80.08 billion in February 2022 outflows.

The entire long-term fund industry brought in $41.317 billion in net inflows in the first two months of 2023. That's equivalent to 0.18 percent of the industry's combined long-term fund AUM.

***This caveat is particularly important for jumbo fund firms, many of which are big players in the 401(k) business, where collective investment trusts (CITs) are a commonly used alternative to traditional mutual funds. For example, as the T. Rowe team revealed last week, in February 2023 their clients transferred about $200 million out of T. Rowe mutual funds and into other T. Rowe products like CITs and SMAs. And T. Rowe is a big retirement plan provider and DC I-O asset manager, especially in the target-date fund (TDF) space. 

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