Equity funds posted a positive return of 4.49 percent for November, however, investors were more bullish on commodity-related funds, world-equity funds and mixed asset funds relative to domestic equity funds, Lipper Research Series said in a report on Mutual Fund Flows for November. Although the economic data was mixed and there was a slight panic about Dubai's financial problems with Dubai world restructuring its debt repayments, the major stock indices in the US ended on a bright note with the Dow gaining 6.51 percent and the NASDAQ composite gaining 4.86 percent for November. According to the report, investors remained net redeemers of fund assets for the third consecutive month, withdrawing some $10.8 billion from the mutual fund business. Bond funds however had net inflows for the eleventh consecutive month taking in $34.4 billion in November while stock and mixed-equity funds witnessed positive net flows for eighth months in a row, attracting $6.7 billion in November. Money Market Funds experienced their tenth straight month net outflows with redemption of $51.9 billion in November. Year to date mutual fund business shed some $97.5 billion net. United States Diversified Equity Funds saw a net outflow of $8.1 billion with hedge-fund like strategies and Mid-Cap Value Funds collectively attracting net inflows of $1 billion, supported largely by Equity Market-Neutral Funds which had a net inflow of $481.7 million, Specialty Diversified Equity Funds, which had a net inflow of $243.1 million, and Long/Short Equity Funds, which had a net inflow of $129.5 million. TFS Market Neutral fund (MUTF: TFSMX), an Equity Market-Neutral Fund with NAV of $15.43, has a year-to-date return of 1.11 percent. World equity funds attracted net inflows for the eighth month in a row. World Equity funds had a net inflow of $8 billion for November. Sector equity funds attracted net inflows of $15.4 billion for the year-to-date period ended November 30, 2009. For November the smallest net inflow went to Sector Equity macro group with net inflows of $1.3 billion. Financial Services Funds, Global Financial Services Funds, Global Health/Biotechnology Funds, Natural Resources Funds, Real Estate Funds and Utility Funds registered the only net outflows in the macro group. Mixed-Equity Funds attracted net inflows for the eighth consecutive month, drawing in $5.5 billion in November. Investors injected an estimated $34.4 billion in Bond Funds. Long and Short term bond funds had a net inflow for the eleventh consecutive month, drawing in $23.4 billion in November. Investment-Grade Debt Funds had a net inflow of $9.8 billion in November. Money market funds witnessed the tenth consecutive month of outflows with a redemption of $51.9 billion in November. Institutional US Government Money Market Funds and Institutional Money Market Funds each had redemptions of $13.6 billion in November. Tax-Exempt money market funds had redemptions of $20.7 billion in November. __
