BOSTON (AP) — Even as stock prices rose again in September, investors withdrew money from stock mutual funds at the fastest pace of the year, marking the seventh straight month that withdrawals have exceeded deposits.

Bond funds attracted cash for the 13th consecutive month, according to a report from the firm Strategic Insight, which also said Wednesday that investors showed a preference for exchange-traded funds over traditional mutual funds. The amount of net deposits that stock ETFs attracted last month was about double the total that was removed from stock mutual funds, suggesting that investors still saw value in stocks.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose more than 2 percent in September, ending the month up nearly 15 percent for the year. Despite those strong gains, the last month that investors added new cash to stock mutual funds was February.