What Is a Bond Fund Doing Atop the List of Hot-Selling Funds?

Whether fund investors are reaching for a security blanket or just chasing performance, some are starting to turn from tech fare to bond funds.

The latest mutual fund cash flow figures show a shift in taste. After more than a year of record flows to the most aggressive sector funds, sales of bond funds spiked in July. The month's top-selling fund: $33 billion (PTTAX Quote)Pimco Total Return, the heavyweight champion of the bond fund pack, run by guru Bill Gross.

Pimco Total Return's surprising ascension may be an anomaly, since investors have still yanked more money out of bond funds than they've invested this year. Nonetheless, when digested with other morsels -- such as the signs of more cash flowing into municipal bond funds and less going toward tech funds -- one can detect signs of a change in investor sentiment. Whether it's the start of a long-term trend or just a blip driven by a minority of skittish investors remains to be seen. ...