Over the period 27 December 2017 to 17 January 2018 inflows into equities hit $58bn, while in the last week alone flows into equities totalled $23.9bn, which is the seventh largest weekly inflows on record.
Meanwhile, four-week inflows into active US mutual funds surged to a four-year high, hitting $8.7bn. Looking back over the last week, US-invested funds saw the bulk of the inflows, taking in $6.4bn, but Japanese and emerging market funds also proved popular, attracting flows of $3.6bn and $3.5bn, respectively.
Reversing redemptions witnessed in December, European-invested funds saw $2.2bn of inflows in the last week.
Bond funds also experienced strong demand in the last seven days, taking in $5.1bn. Of these, the biggest inflows were into emerging market debt funds, which saw $3.3bn of inflows.
Commenting on the flows, Michael Hartnett, head of global investment strategy, said credit is the “glue” keeping the cross-asset bull market together. However, he notes flows are rolling over and price action looks fatigued, which he argued is a “clear bear catalyst”.
