Investors “accelerated their hunt for yield” in the first quarter of 2013, pouring $184.3 billion into long-term open-end mutual funds, according to Q1 data from Nasdaq-listed Morningstar.

By contrast, investors redeemed $92.8 billion from money market funds, the firm said.

Meanwhile, for the 19th consecutive month, taxable bond funds topped all asset classes with inflows of $19.3 billion in March, bringing their inflows for the quarter to $69.1 billion.

Other highlights from Morningstar’s report on mutual fund flows include that, while it is “too soon to declare a secular shift to equities,” US stock funds netted inflows of $21.5 billion in the first three months of the year. This marked the first positive quarter for the asset class since the beginning of 2011 and the best quarter since 2004, Morningstar said.

Investors also “continue to embrace international stock funds,” which garnered $12.1 billion in March and $47 billion for the quarter.

Alternative and commodities funds had - relative to total assets - strong March inflows, collecting $2 billion and $1.4 billion respectively.

For the quarter, alternatives saw inflows of $9.2 billion - the “best three months on record for the asset class,” Morningstar said.