With the stock market hitting all-time highs, equity investors continued to show interest in international and sector funds than their domestic counterparts in May, according to new data from Morningstar showing that investors added $23.4 billion to long-term mutual funds during the month.

With the stock market reaching all-time highs, equity investors continued to show greater interest in international and sector funds than their domestic counterparts in May, according to new data from Morningstar.

Investors added $23.4 billion to long-term mutual funds during the month, compared to $27.7 billion in April.

Among key highlights from the findings, it was found that additional transfers of assets from mutual funds to collective investment trusts at Fidelity contributed to some of the $6.9 billion outflow from US equity funds, although market appreciation kept assets in the category group at near-record levels, Morningstar said.

The research firm estimates net flow by calculating the change in assets not explained by the performance of the fund.

In May, taxable bond funds garnered new assets of $9.5 billion, their fifth straight month of inflows following seven months of redemptions. Meanwhile, municipal bond fund inflows of $3.7 billion in May were their strongest in 16 months (although total assets in these funds remain below levels reached a year ago.)

Foreign large blend led all categories with inflows of $3.9 billion in May. Among international categories, India equity experienced the fastest organic growth rate. After 21 months of inflows, the bank loan category suffered its second month of outflows, shedding $1.7 billion, while high-yield bond funds attracted $1.7 billion.