Redemptions from U.S. Equity Funds jumped to a 38-week high as investors again questioned whether U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has the focus and political skills to get its economic agenda through Congress.
Once again the bulk of the week’s inflows went to the diversified Global Emerging Markets (GEM) Equity Funds.
Positive flows into utilities funds last week are the first positive sign in three months for the sector, while gold funds took in over $1 billion in new money.
Commitments to global and Japanese equity funds failed to offset $9 billion redeemed from U.S. and Europe.
The hope and hype that came in the first few weeks after the election didn’t seem to meet the ready cynicism about campaign promises not translating to active policy.
Lack of pro-growth policies by the Trump administration has all but erased any gains the dollar has made.
At a time of complacent markets and low volatility, doomsday prognosticators can inflict enormous harm on investors.
Such stocks have surged more than 30 percent since the start of July.
ETFs just surpassed $3 trillion in assets in 2015, while mutual funds have roughly $16 trillion in assets.
"Disruption" might be a buzzword now, but it's nothing new.