Investors have begun shifting their money from the perceived safety of small- and mid-cap funds into multi-cap funds, and appear to be moving toward large-cap funds for the first time in nearly a year.
Flows into emerging markets funds exploded in January helped in part by retirement plan contributions.
Investors turned against gold and real estate funds after both sectors experienced several months of strong inflows.
Asset allocation funds have been consistent moneymakers for fund companies, drawing net inflows for eight consecutive months as of the most recent Lipper figures.
The record amount of flows investors have put into bond funds may foreshadow a strong rally for flows into equity funds.
Flows into style equity funds were negative across the spectrum during the last three-month period after a rally in growth funds.
Large-cap funds continued their asset bleeding during the latest three-month period as investors remained concerned over the performance of some of the large banking institutions and the automotive industry.
Global flexible income funds experienced the largest percentage increase in assets of world equity funds over the last three-month period, according to Lipper figures.
Real estate funds continued their run, taking in $646.5 billion in net inflows from July through September, according to Lipper figures.
August marked the first month during the June-August three-month period that all classes of asset-allocation funds had positive net inflows.
Bond funds experienced the highest inflows in at least the past 20 years in August, taking in a total of $42.3 billion between short-term & intermediate and long-term Lipper categories.
Investors returned to growth in droves after months of net outflows, but performance chasing may lead to a rally in value fund flows, according to Tom Roseen, senior analyst at Lipper.
U.S. diversified equity funds experienced their first positive net inflows for a quarter since the second quarter of 2008.
Investors who are hunting for bargain basement prices on securities are pouring money into developing markets while pulling their cash out in droves from developed markets.
Real estate funds made a big comeback in the three-month period from April to June.
Investors in target-risk funds are beginning to get the itch for improved returns once again. While they have not thrown caution to the wind, investors began putting money into growth and moderate funds again in April, according to figures from Lipper.
After months of a flight to quality in the market, investors did an about face and left money market funds in droves as they searched for investments that could provide them with higher yields.
Large-cap funds were the diversified equity fund flow leaders in April, posting their first inflows in 20 months.
Investors fled Europe and turned their attention to emerging markets funds during the three-month period ended in April.
Health care funds got slammed during the month of March as investors pulled $1.35 billion from the sector, an amount that exceeded the three-month outflows of all other Lipper sector categories.
Retail investors continued to bolt from target-risk growth funds despite their strong performance in March.
Investors showed an increasing appetite for risk by putting money back into bonds after a flight to quality drove money into more conservative investments such as money market funds and government-backed bank offerings.
Investors continued to pull money across different styles of equity funds, albeit it at a slower pace than in the previous three-month period.
Large-cap funds are still suffering from investor flight despite a nearly 70% decrease in overall fund outflows over the three-month period ended in February.