CHICAGO, April 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today reported estimated U.S. mutual fund asset flows for March 2014. Investors added $39.2 billion to long-term mutual funds in March, driven by continued strong flows to developed international markets and a rebound in flows to intermediate-term bond funds. Morningstar estimates net flow by computing the change in assets not explained by the performance of the fund. Click here for a full explanation of Morningstar's methodology.

Additional highlights from Morningstar's report on mutual fund flows:


    --  Core intermediate-term bond funds saw inflows of $4.3 billion, their
        first monthly intake in 11 months. Excluding outflows of $3.1 billion
        from PIMCO Total Return, intermediate-term bond funds collected inflows
        of $7.4 billion.
    --  In March, Fidelity transferred $6.5 billion from equity mutual funds to
        collective investment trusts. This move dragged down inflows for
        U.S.-equity mutual funds, which totaled $2.8 billion for the month. But
        because of this transfer, these mild inflows do not necessarily reflect
        negative investor sentiment toward equities.
    --  Excluding the transfer of Fidelity's mutual fund assets to collective
        investment trusts, PIMCO was the only fund provider among the top 10 to
        see net outflows in the first quarter.
    --  Among international-equity funds, which took in $11.0 billion in March,
        foreign large blend led all categories with inflows of $6.6 billion.
        Diversified emerging-markets funds rebounded from February outflows to
        attract inflows of $1.1 billion in March.

To view the complete report, please visit http://www.global.morningstar.com/marchflows14. To view a brief video overview of U.S. fund flow trends, please visit http://bit.ly/march2014flows. For more information about Morningstar Asset Flows, please visit http://global.morningstar.com/assetflows.

The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. References to and commentary about the above mentioned mutual funds should not be considered a solicitation to buy or sell that fund.

About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on approximately 446,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 10 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its registered investment advisor subsidiaries and had approximately $159 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Dec. 31, 2013. The company has operations in 27 countries.

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Media Contact:
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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.