Stock Funds Take in Net $6.3 Billion in August

U.S. stock mutual funds took in a net $6.3 billion in August, well below the $10-billion net cash inflow of July, an industry trade group said Thursday.

A declining U.S. stock market for most of August gave some investors pause. Funds that own U.S. shares had a net outflow of $1.9 billion, the Investment Company Institute said.

By contrast, Americans continue to invest heavily abroad, a strong trend this year: Funds that invest in foreign shares had a net inflow of $8.2 billion in August, up from $4.6 billion in July.

Bond funds had an inflow of $7.3 billion in August, just slightly ahead of the July pace.

Financial Research Corp. said that Los Angeles-based American Funds was the top-selling U.S. fund family in August, adding a net $6.7 billion.

American Funds remained the bestselling group year-to-date as well, with its funds taking in a net $57.7 billion, which boosted its assets to $725 billion.