Fund Flows
Our data provider defines net flow at the fund level as the change in assets between two periods not explained by the return of the fund.
Fund Flows calculate asset inflows and outflows for individual funds on a monthly basis. Investors can look at the direction of these cash flows for insights about the health of specific stocks, sectors, or the overall market. When investors are putting more money into funds, inflows are higher which can single greater overall investor optimism. Larger outflows suggest rising wariness.
Net Flows are calculated using an industry standard approach, measuring the change in Assets Under Management (AUM) for the month, after accommodating for price change.
Fund Flows can be calculated at the fund or share class levels.
Net Flows = Month's end AUM - Previous month's AUM * (difference of price change of the fund of the two periods)
To calculate flows for January (1/31) and say the securities price grew by 5%
(January 31st AUM) - [(December 31st AUM) * (1 + 5%)]
Note: When determining the security’s price change, YCharts uses Monthly Returns for the period in question.