Though Vanguard won 2018, BlackRock kept the pole position at the end of the year. Meanwhile, only three of their fellow behemoths managed to have positive net flows for the year's rough final month.

The information within this article draws from Morningstar Direct data on December 2018 and full-year 2018 open-end mutual fund and ETF flows (excluding money market funds and funds of funds), and focuses specifically on the 24 firms (three fewer than in November) with more than $100 billion each in mutual fund and ETF AUM. Five of those 24 firms gained net inflows in December, while 19 suffered net outflows; for the year, 10 gained net inflows, while 14 suffered net outflows.

Vanguard brought in an estimated $160.69 billion in net inflows for the year, leading the pack but falling by 54 percent from $345.727 billion in 2017. Other big 2018 inflows winners included: BlackRock, $138.216 billion (down from $209.557 billion); Fidelity, $49.649 billion (up from $10.976 billion); Schwab, $32.863 billion (up from $32.304 billion); and DFA, $16.606 billion (down from $31.157 billion).

Proportionately among the biggest fund firms, Schwab won the inflows race last year, thanks to estimated 2018 net inflows equivalent to 17.25 percent of its AUM, down from 18.35 percent in 2017. Other big 2018 inflows winners included: BlackRock, 8.66 percent (down from 13.11 percent); Lord Abbett, 6.8 percent (down from 7.44 percent); DFA, 4.47 percent (down from 7.73 percent); and Vanguard, 3.82 percent (down from 7.73 percent).

Yet the picture looked a bit different in December. For the second month in a row, BlackRock led the pack with an estimated $30.158 billion in net inflows, down from $30.349 billion in November. Other big December winners included: Vanguard, $11.42 billion (up from $10.683 billion); Schwab, $3.492 billion (up from $2.555 billion); Fidelity, $2.608 billion (down from $3.78 billion); and J.P. Morgan, $1.331 billion (up from $67 million).

On the flip side, 2018 was a rough year for Franklin Templeton, which suffered an estimated $33.783 billion in net outflows, more than any other giant fund firm and up from $27.757 billion in 2017. Other big 2018 outflows sufferers included: T. Rowe Price, $14.582 billion (up from $10.861 billion); Invesco, $11.728 billion (down from $3.567 billion in net inflows); Principal, $9.962 billion (up from $1.681 billion); and Columbia Threadneedle, $9.847 billion (up from $9.108 billion).

Proportionately among the biggest fund firms, Franklin suffered the most 2018 net outflows, equivalent to 10.25 percent of its AUM, up from 7.23 percent in 2017. Other big 2018 sufferers included: Principal, 8.45 percent (up from 1.22 percent); Columbia, 7.35 percent (up from 5.84 percent); John Hancock, 6.41 percent (up from 0.51 percent); and OppenheimerFunds, 5.42 percent, up from 1.18 percent.

Like on the inflows side, the December picture was a bit different for outflows. Capital Group's American Funds led the behemoths with an estimated $8.86 billion in net December outflows, up from $721 million in November. Other big December sufferers included: Pimco, $5.677 billion (up from $2.772 billion); T. Rowe, $5.212 billion (up from $1.633 billion); Franklin, $4.606 billion (up from $2.889 billion); and Dodge & Cox, $4.317 billion (up from $1.381 billion).

As a group, the 24 firms with more than $100 billion each in mutual fund and ETF AUM suffered an estimated $4.464 billion in combined net outflows for December, equivalent to well less than 0.01 percent of their combined AUM. That's down from $31.095 billion in net inflows in November.

For all of 2018, those same behemoths brought in a combined $312.63 billion in estimated net inflows, equivalent to 0.02 percent of their combined AUM.

Across the entire industry, long-term mutual funds and ETFs brought in a combined $162.401 billion in net inflows last year, equivalent to 0.96 percent of their combined AUM. That's despite $82.641 billion in combined net outflows in December alone, equivalent to 0.49 percent of their combined AUM. Passive funds brought in $59.739 billion in net inflows in December, while active funds suffered $142.26 billion in net outflows. 

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