Here’s why April has been a challenging month for money managers. I’ve felt like I’ve been swimming as hard as I can upstream all month just to stay even.
Equity Fund Redemptions in April Are Largest in 17 Years
By Charles Stein – Apr 27, 2012 11:56 AM MT
Global investors this month pulled the most money from stock funds in any April in at least 17 years amid escalating concerns that Europe’s economy is faltering.
Equity funds had net redemptions of $18.6 billion through April 25, according to data from EPFR Global, a research firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The April withdrawals were the largest since at least 1996, the first year for which comparable data is available.
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Traders on the New York Stock Exchange. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg
“April has thrown up a lot of things that could change the equation, especially in Europe,” Cameron Brandt, director of research at EPFR, said in a telephone interview.
Investors have been shifting money from stock funds since the global credit crisis sent the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) down 38 percent in 2008. In the U.S., money continues to flow to bond funds even as the benchmark index of big stocks has more than doubled since reaching a 12-year low in March 2009.
via Equity Fund Redemptions in April Are Largest in 17 Years – Bloomberg.