Investors Add $151.5 Million in New Money

Municipal bond mutual funds commanded a modest sum of new money last week.

Muni funds reported $151.5 million in new money from investors during the week ended June 23, according to Lipper FMI.

The tally is light by recent standards. It represents the smallest weekly inflow since the week ended May 5 and is well below the average inflow of $516.8 million established the past 10 weeks.

Funds have been reporting new money inflows at an average rate of $593.4 million a week for the past four weeks, down slightly from the previous week but higher than the pace recorded in most of the second quarter.

High-yield funds reported $26.4 million in outflows. Long-term funds coughed up $62 million.

Investors continue to stuff cash into municipal funds despite a 10-year triple-A yield south of 3% based on the Municipal Market Data scale and a steady drumbeat of panicky forecasts about state and local government credit quality.

Investors have entrusted nearly $18 billion to municipal funds this year after loading them with a record $69 billion last year, according to the Investment Company Institute.

The industry now manages $497.5 billion.

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