Each month the Investment Company Institute publishes data for net money flows into and out of mutual funds available in the United States which we present here.  They have turned positive after months of massive outflows.

While ETFs are quite popular and increasingly so, mutual funds still are where the bulk of retail investor fund assets are found — 401-k plans being a major factor.  That makes data on mutual fund money flows a good indicator of the behavior of the “average Joe” investor.

Here are three charts showing the mutual fund net money flows from 2002 through April 2009.

The first chart shows the total flows for equity mutual funds.  The second chart shows the 3-month moving average of net flows into those funds that invest primarily in the US and into those that invest primarily on a world or international basis.  The third chart shows the cumulative net flows for each