The week ending Dec. 7 saw about $1.04 billion in inflows from muni bond funds that report their flows weekly, according to Lipper FMI. In the week ending Nov. 30, there were net outflows of $297 million.

The past week was a strong one for munis. Investors were flush with reinvestment cash from December and January coupon payments and maturing debt. And they needed to put the money to work. The primary market this past week, estimated to total just under $6 billion for a second straight week, provided a ready haven. The muni market absorbed the primary, and snapped up high-grade credits in the secondary, with such alacrity that yields fell steadily across the curve.

But those same investors clearly recall the months when money hemorrhaged from muni bond funds between mid-November 2010 and early June, often by more than $1 billion a week. In the week of Jan. 19, investors in weekly reporting funds withdrew more than $4 billion.

Assets for funds that report their flows weekly rose to $268.5 billion from $265.5 billion the previous week. Four weeks ago, a large asset manager that had been supplying weekly numbers stopped, Lipper reported. That is said to account for much of the recent pronounced plunge in fund assets.

The value of the holdings for weekly reporting funds rose by a whopping $1.87 billion. The week before, they increased by $54.7 million.

The four-week moving average for all municipal bond mutual funds that report their flows weekly saw a $344 million inflow, up from $275 million the week before.

High-yield muni funds saw inflows this past week after two straight weeks of outflows.

Funds that report weekly saw inflows of $56.5 million, Lipper said. The previous week, high-yield funds reported outflows of $133 million.

Assets for high-yield funds that report their flows weekly rose after three straight weeks of decreases. They ended at $33.55 billion, up from $33.22 billion the previous week.

The value of the holdings for weekly reporting funds rose by $268.2 million. Last week, they decreased by $112.8 million.

The four-week moving average for all high-yield muni bond funds that report their flows weekly was a $34.6 million outflow, down from a $33.2 million outflow the week before.
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