March was marked by political uncertainties, particularly concerning the pension reform, and doubts about the pace of global economic growth, which triggered the devaluation of emerging-market assets. The investment fund industry closed the month with net capital inflow of R$2.2 billion, ending the first quarter with a positive balance of R$47.8 billion, a 3.3% increase compared with the result seen in the end of 2018.

The Balanced-Mixed class saw net inflow of R$2.2 billion, the lowest monthly result for this type of investment in the year. Despite the March figure, in the first quarter the Balanced-Mixed category was the ANBIMA class with the largest net inflow, totaling R$12.4 billion. The largest funding transactions within this class between January and March occurred with the most representative types, Free and Macro, which raised R$6.3 billion and R$3.4 billion, respectively.

The class with the second-largest net inflow in the quarter was Equity, with R$12 billion. The Free Portfolio class raised R$8.5 billion in the quarter. The result was also positive in March, with R$1.8 billion, marking the sixth month in a row of net capital inflow.

On the other hand, the class that posted the second-largest net inflow in March was Pension Funds (R$2.9 billion), which accumulates R$10.1 billion in the year to date, and the third best result in the quarter. The Fixed Income class drew only R$426 million of fresh funds in March and posted net inflow of R$1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2019.

The fund's returns in March were in line with the poor performance of market indicators - the IMA-General returned 0.56% while stock market benchmark index Ibovespa fell 18%. Almost all types within the Equity class had losses in the month: the Free Portfolio, which has the largest net assets in the class, showed negative return of 0.60%. In Fixed Income, the highlights were Foreign Debt and Long-Duration Investment Grade, with returns of 4.83% and 0.87%, respectively. The most representative types of the Balanced-Mixed class, Macro and Free, saw monthly returns of only 0.22% and 0.29%, respectively.

In the year to date, the Free type, the most representative in the Balanced-Mixed class, posted return of 2.56%. The Equity-Free Portfolio, with the largest assets in the Equity class, rose 7.74% since January. In the types that make up the Fixed Income class, Foreign Debt, which has a lower weight on the category, saw the highest year-to-date return at 4.47%.