After a strong week of new issuance and demonstrable investor interest, municipal bond mutual fund flows once again saw the positive side. The funds saw net outflows last week after recording inflows for three out of the previous four weeks.
In the week ended July 13, there were net inflows of $367 million for muni bond funds that report their flows weekly, according to Lipper FMI. The previous week saw investors pulled $272 million from the funds.
The industry has struggled to find its footing, as far as investor interest in muni bond funds goes. For 29 consecutive weeks between mid-November and early June, money fled from muni funds, often by more than $1 billion a week. In the week of Jan. 19, investors in weekly reporting funds yanked more than $4 billion, according to Lipper.
Assets for funds that report their flows weekly rose this week to $320.7 billion from $318.3 billion, while the value of the holdings for weekly reporting funds rose $1.67 billion. The previous week, they reported an increase of just $126 million.
The four-week moving average for all municipal bond mutual funds that report their flows weekly saw a $99 million inflow following a $36 million outflow the week before.
High-yield muni funds returned to the black; they saw inflows for only the eighth time in 10 weeks. Funds that report weekly saw inflows of $67 million, Lipper reported. The previous week, high-yield funds reported outflows of $27 million.
Assets for high-yield fund weekly reporters ticked up to $40.04 billion from $39.72 billion the previous week. The value of the holdings for weekly reporting funds increased by almost $241 million. Last week, they rose by almost $70 million.
The four-week moving average for all high-yield muni bond funds that report their flows weekly rose to a $58.4 million inflow from a $51.2 million inflow the week before.
