CHICAGO, Nov. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today reported estimated U.S. mutual fund asset flows through October 2012. Investors added $27.7 billion to long-term open-end funds during the month. Taxable-bond funds led the way with inflows of $29.6 billion, while U.S.-stock funds saw outflows of $8.3 billion.

Additional highlights from Morningstar's report on mutual fund flows:

• Investors continue to seek out higher-risk segments of the bond market. The multi-sector bond, bank loan, emerging-markets bond, nontraditional bond, world bond, and high-yield bond categories each saw inflows of more than $1.0 billion.
• PIMCO topped all firms with inflows of $8.1 billion in October, led by PIMCO Total Return Bond which took in $2.4 billion alone.
• DoubleLine Total Return took in $1.9 billion during the month and $17.9 billion year to date, making it the most popular mutual fund so far this year.  
• Alternative funds have had the fastest organic growth rate of any asset class in 2012, collecting $12.4 billion in year-to-date inflows.

To view the complete report, please visit http://www.global.morningstar.com/octflows12. To view a video recapping October's U.S. asset flow trends, please visit http://bit.ly/octfundflows. 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.

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 individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar provides data on more than 385,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 8 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 registered investment advisor subsidiaries and has approximately $195 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Sept. 30, 2012. The company has operations in 27 countries.

©2012 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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

SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.