Investors flocked to domestic equities in August

Stock and bond mutual funds experienced a net inflow of $401 million in August, representing a turnaround from last year at the same time when the funds experienced a net outflow of $1.1 billion. Domestic equities led the way with a net inflow of $12.9 billion in new cash, according to Boston-based research firm Financial Research Corp. At the same time, international and global equity funds led in net outflows with $21.5 billion, the firm reported. At the top of the fund sales charts, State Street Global Advisors of Boston’s SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) had a net inflow of $3.6 billion and Newport Beach, Calif.-based Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC’s Total Return Fund (PITAX) attracted $1.7 billion for the month.