Risky Asset Outflows Surge Again As “Up-In-Quality” Rotation Accelerates

Market weakness, as BofAML reports, has taken a toll on mutual fund and ETF flows, with stocks (-$9.56bn), HY bonds (-$1.56bn) and levered loans (-$1.17bn) all reporting significant outflows last week (ending on October 1st). There is a clear “up in quality” and “up in capital structure” rotation among investors as investment grade bonds saw huge inflows. Notably, most PIMCO funds, including the Total Return Funds, do not report flows weekly, and hence the bulk of this outflow was not reflected in the last week’s data. In a statement PIMCO said that outflows from the Total Return Fund totaled $23.5bn in September, so we will have to see just where that outflow hit.

 Risk-off…