American, the second-largest fund company by assets, saw a net $1.8 billion in cash flow out the door in September as investor redemptions exceeded purchases for the sixth month in the past nine, according to research company Morningstar Inc. Year to date through Sept. 30, American Funds suffered a net cash outflow of $19.3 billion, or about 2.2 percent of its current asset total of $880 billion. By contrast, No. 1 fund company Vanguard, with $1 trillion in total assets, had a net cash inflow of $74.2 billion in the first nine months, according to Morningstar. Fidelity Investments saw a net $17.2 billion come in the door, and Pimco funds took in a net $55.6 billion. Vanguard, Fidelity and particularly Newport-Beach-based Pimco have benefited from record demand for bond funds this year, as many individual investors have opted to play it safer with their money rather than risk another huge loss if the stock market should dive again. But American Funds' bread and butter always has been stocks. Just 11 percent of the assets it manages are in its bond funds. So when investors shun stocks, American has a limited menu of funds to entice them. Controlled by privately held Capital Group Cos., American relies heavily on brokers and other financial advisers to market its funds. So if advisers are tilting clients' portfolios away from stocks after last year's market crash, they may be siphoning cash from American's funds toward other assets. An American Funds spokesman declined to comment on the Morningstar data. Another factor might be hurting American this year: its conservative money management style. The company stresses long-term investing and always has followed a 'value'-oriented stock-picking discipline. But that means its equity funds tend to lag when share prices are surging. Of American's 10 largest stock and stock-and-bond funds, six trailed the performance of the average fund in their investment category in the first nine months of this year, according to Morningstar. Because fund companies collect a percentage of assets as their management fee, investor withdrawals cut into fee income. American Funds slashed about 14 percent of its staff worldwide in two rounds of layoffs in the first half of the year -- the company's first mass job reductions -- in reaction to a plunge in assets as stock prices fell and investors yanked cash. 