"Global investors continued to shift their allocations away from US equity funds and into global, international and emerging market funds," said EPFR on Friday.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based EPFR tracks about 8,000 international and emerging market stock and bond funds with more than $3 trillion in assets, covering up to 90 percent of emerging market stock funds and two-thirds of US funds.
The latest $1.26 billion of inflows into emerging market stock funds was the second largest weekly amount since EPFR began tracking fund flows on a weekly basis in 2000.
Year to date, these funds have taken in $3.08 billion. The latest inflows were evenly spread between the four fund groups that comprise EPFR's dedicated emerging market equity funds.
Global emerging market equity funds took in $365.8 million, Asia ex-Japan stock funds received $401 million, and Europe, Middle East and Africa equity funds took in $351.9 million.
LATIN AMERICA BOOST: Latin America stock funds received $141.9 million, the most in a week since March 2002. India funds took in $92.8 million. Investors placed $39.5 million in Taiwan stock funds and $36.7 million in China/Greater China equity funds.
Among all equity funds tracked by EPFR with assets of $1.36 trillion, investors contributed $1.87 billion in the week.
Global/international stock funds took in $817.9 million, bringing their year to date inflows to $2.60 billion.
Japan equity funds had inflows of $129.8 million for the week, and Europe stock funds received $122.4 million.
US equity funds tracked by EPFR were the only fund group to suffer outflows during the week, losing $475.5 million. EPFR said investors have pulled $2.06 billion from these funds year to date.
Other recent surveys also pointed to this trend of US stock fund outflows.
On Thursday, fund research firm Lipper Inc, a unit of Reuters Group Plc, said US stock mutual funds experienced outflows of $2.8 billion in January.
These outflows in January run contrary to recent years, when between $15 billion and $40 billion of inflows into US stock mutual funds were reported for the month, Lipper said.
On Friday, Banc of America Securities analyst Tom McManus said in a research note that US mutual fund net sales data so far in 2005 showed a lack of enthusiasm for domestic stock funds.
McManus said US domestic stock funds have taken in about $11 billion since the start of the year, significantly lower than in eight of the past nine years.