Mutual fund assets reached a new high of $10.8 trillion in November, while monthly flows into mutual funds were again positive at $14.6 billion, slightly lower than the $17.8 billion in October, according to Boston-based research firm Cerulli Associates.

Mutual fund assets reached a new high of $10.8 trillion in November 2013, while monthly flows into mutual funds were again positive at $14.6 billion (although slightly lower than the $17.8 billion recorded in the previous month), according to Boston, MA-based research firm Cerulli Associates.

Cerulli said in its latest issue of The Cerulli Edge that, since June, exchange-traded fund assets increased by 8.8 per cent to total nearly $1.7 trillion through November. Meanwhile, ETF net flows in November remained positive for a third month in a row, harvesting $71.9 billion since August.

A recent Cerulli survey of investment consultants found that the majority (72 per cent) are using ETFs for liquidity management purposes. Additionally, more than one-quarter (28 per cent) are employing ETFs for both short-term tactical opportunities and longer term strategic allocations.

Cerulli believes that building and sustaining income-producing products is where firms, especially legacy fixed-income managers, will face some of their greatest hurdles in 2014.

In other findings, managers' product development plans reflect changing investor preferences, with unconstrained bond funds (23 per cent) and bank loan funds (20 per cent) topping their list of planned fixed income launches, Cerulli said.