Where Fund Investors Put Their Money in November

November Saw Elements of Both Consistency and Uncertainty

Long-term US fund flows notched their seventh straight month of inflows in November, collectively raking in a net $80 billion. In a volatile month, investors appeared affected by rate-cutting expectations, as well as uncertainty around the artificial intelligence stock trade. Consistent with the past several months, flows favored taxable bonds, especially lower-risk areas within it, as well as international stocks over US equities. That said, US equity funds broke a six-month streak of outflows, tech sector funds posted their first outflows since April, and crypto assets lost some allure.

Taxable-Bond Funds Remain in the Driver’s Seat

Taxable-bond funds continued to rake in assets in November, with 22 of 27 categories gathering assets amid a rate-cutting cycle. Their $51 billion of inflows marked a seventh straight month of inflows above $50 billion. In the past three years, total net assets in taxable-bond funds increased 38%. Much of that growth in 2025 was attributable to less-risky categories such as intermediate-core bond, ultrashort bond, and short-term bond. Investors favored shorter bonds in November as the US yield curve continued to steepen, as persistent long-term inflation concerns remained.

US Equity Funds’ November Inflows Break Six-Month Streak

US equity funds gathered a scant $3.4 billion in November, good enough to reverse a six-month streak of outflows. Yet, durable category trends persisted; large-blend funds’ $18 billion in inflows led categories within the group, with the three largest outflows going to the growth categories. Passive inflows dominated, especially to large-blend stalwarts. But investors also gave thanks for large value, blessing the category with nearly $3 billion of inflows and especially the iShares S&P 500 Value ETF IVE, whose $4 billion in inflows was its largest on record, a monthly organic growth rate of nearly 10%.

Despite Colder Weather, International Equity Stays Hot in November

International-equity funds stayed in the green in November, booking their seventh consecutive monthly inflows, which, at $16.2 billion, edged the similarly sized June inflows to become its largest in more than three years. Foreign large-blend led international categories with an $11 billion net addition of mostly passive assets, but diversified emerging markets made a strong showing—second place at nearly $6 billion. That was emerging market’s largest inflows since March 2022 and was unsurprisingly driven by passive, as well.

November Was Topsy-Turvy for Sector-Equity Funds

Sector-equity funds saw a minor $750 million in outflows in November, reversing a six-month streak of inflows worth more than $40 billion in new assets. In fact, the entire group seemed upside-down, with health funds attracting more than $3 billion in the month—a start to plug the $72 billion hole left from outflows since December 2022. Conversely, technology funds saw small outflows after an otherwise successful 2025, with net inflows of $21 billion so far. Equity digital assets funds—mostly blockchain-oriented strategies—similarly saw an unusual loss; that category has grown its assets by more than 40% over the past year.

Tides Turning?

A widely held risk-off sentiment that helped drive fund flows for months, particularly within equity, seems to have reversed in November, at least to an extent. Leveraged equity funds brought in $6.4 billion in November, their second-largest monthly inflow on record. This came after six straight months of significant outflows. Conversely, inverse equity funds, which profit from equity market declines, lost $1.6 billion, their first outflows since February 2025 and the fifth-largest on record. Investors may have had enough of sitting on the sidelines, as equity markets have continued to rise.’

Crypto Takes a Dive in November

Digital assets funds did not fare well in November, notching their largest monthly outflows on record of $3.2 billion. While this absolute value was surely affected by crypto’s exponential growth in recent years, November’s organic growth rate of negative 1.7% was its lowest on record as well. Bitcoin and ethereum funds dominate the digital assets category, and in November, these two lost approximately 17% and 21% of their values, respectively. Considering both outflows and crypto price drops, the digital assets category shrunk by over 20%, down to $153 billion.

This article is adapted from the Morningstar Direct US Asset Flows Commentary for April 2025. Download the full report here.