CHICAGO, Jan. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today reported estimated U.S. mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) asset flows for December and full-year 2015. Morningstar estimates net flow for mutual funds by computing the change in assets not explained by the performance of the fund and net flow for ETFs by computing the change in shares outstanding.

Highlights from Morningstar's report about U.S. asset flows: 


    --  U.S. equity funds topped all category groups with inflows of $16.8
        billion in December but ended 2015 with net outflows after two years of
        net inflows. International-equity funds led all category groups in terms
        of highest inflows for the calendar year, collecting $207.6 billion.
    --  Taxable-bond funds sustained the worst outflows by category group in
        December, $29.0 billion, most of them driven by the high-yield category.
        The turbulence created by Third Avenue Management's announcement that it
        would liquidate its high-yield bond fund, Third Avenue Focused Credit,
        without allowing investors to redeem their shares right away, along with
        decreasing oil prices, led to December outflows of $11.2 billion for the
        category, the third-largest monthly outflow since 1993 when
        Morningstar's data began.
    --  With a few exceptions, active funds suffered while their passive
        counterparts reaped the majority of inflows in December and throughout
        2015. In December, two of only three firms with inflows to actively
        managed funds were those that specialize in the passive side of the
        business--Vanguard and State Street.
    --  Franklin Templeton suffered heavy outflows in December, with two of the
        firm's fixed-income offerings leading the list of active funds with the
        highest outflows. Templeton Global Bond and Franklin Income had outflows
        of $2.2 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively.

To view the complete report, please visit http://www.global.morningstar.com/decflows15. To view a video recapping the latest U.S. asset flow trends, please visit http://bit.ly/Q42015flows. 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 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 more than 500,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 17 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 investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $170 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Sept. 30, 2015. The company has operations in 27 countries.

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Media Contact:
 Carling Spelhaug, +1 312 696-6150 or carling.spelhaug@morningstar.com

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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.