Every fortnight, MutualFunds.com provides a snapshot of the performance of some key mutual funds which tries to accurately capture the investor interest in specific areas of the financial markets. The report is aimed at providing a quick overview of the sectors, regions and asset classes that moved in a meaningful manner during the last two weeks.

• Total long-term flows are again positive for the two weeks ending February 26, continuing a streak of inflows not seen since mid-2017.

• Around $9 billion were infused in total long-term mutual funds, with equities posting outflows and bonds inflows.

• Equity mutual funds have experienced more than $11 billion in outflows, with domestic large-cap stocks largely bearing the brunt. Meanwhile, bonds enjoyed more than $20 billion in inflows, with investment-grade and government bonds particularly popular with investors. Only high-yield bonds saw outflows.

• The coronavirus epidemic has continued to make headlines, although the markets now appear more sanguine that the crisis will be resolved. Still, if the Chinese markets remain closed for a longer period of time, the negative consequences on global trade will be felt. There are already reports that tankers from and to China are sitting idle, while Apple warned that it will not be meeting its revenue guidance due to a shortage of iPhone supplies worldwide.

• As a result, all the major US indices were in red over the last 2 weeks, with the S&P 500 hit the hardest – down by 7%. Dow Jones Industrial Index and Nasdaq followed suit, being down by 5% and 4% respectively.

We provide this report on a fortnightly basis. To stay up to date with mutual fund market events, return to our News page here.

• Broad indices did not show signs of weakness in the light of the coronavirus outbreak. In fact, they recovered strongly.

• The U.S. technology index fund (NASDX) surged more than 7% in the two weeks ended February 14, as investors ignored a string of negative news from China.

• Meanwhile, Vanguard’s total bond market index fund (VBMFX) lost 0.27%, after taking the best-performer crown in the previous scorecard.

• Sectors were all up.

• Fidelity’s chemicals sector fund (FSCHX) was a rare best performer, gaining nearly 8% during the period, although the fund remains down by 1.6% year-to-date. Moreover, the chemicals sector had a mixed 2019, advancing only slightly when the broad market posted strong gains.

• On the other end of the spectrum is the Fidelity’s real estate sector fund (FRIFX), which rose by 1.81% over the past two weeks and became the worst performer.

• All foreign equities were up.

• Chinese equities fund (MICDX) rebounded strongly these two weeks, surging around 7%, after losing more than 10% of their value over the prior two-week period.

• Latin American equities fund (RLAIX) added 1.5%, although this is the worst performance from the bunch.

• Major asset classes posted mixed performance.

• John Hancock’s multi-currency fund (JCUAX) dropped by 1.2%, becoming the worst performer for the period.

• At the same time, BlackRock’s small-cap index fund (CSGEX) surged by 5.5%.

Flows were again positive for the two weeks ended February 5, although equities have seen a fair degree of outflows. The flow picture was saved by investment-grade and government bonds, which enjoyed large inflows. Global markets have recovered strongly despite increasing evidence that the coronavirus epidemic is going to take a toll on global trade. The biggest winners these past two weeks are technology, chemicals and Chinese equities, while John Hancock’s multi-currency fund is the biggest loser.

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