Amid the recent volatility in the markets, investors have been pulling funds out of equities. “The 2015 retreat from US equities by retail investors appeared to be fading as 2016 got off to a less onerous start,” Credit Suisse’s Lori Calvasina said on Thursday. “But the improving trend has reversed, with severe outflows seen in April.” According to a new report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, equity funds saw $7.4 billion in outflows in the past week.
The cumulative outflow from equity funds over the past five weeks was $44 billion. BAML’s Michael Hartnett, who characterized this as an “equity exodus,” noted that this was the largest redemption over a 5-week period since August 2011. So where is that money going? In the past week, $3.5 billion went into bond funds and $1.0 billion went into precious metals funds, which offer exposure to gold. READ MORE
