ETFGI, a London-based exchange-traded fund consultancy, has released their latest findings from their Global ETF and ETP insights report, showing strong growth in net new assets of US ETFs.
Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at ETFGI.
On the global stage, $287.3bn in net new assets have been channelled into ETFs (YTD as of 1 November 2015), representing a 22.3% increase over the prior record set last year, and indicating that international growth in this sector is still robust.
In the US alone, ETFs/ETPs pulled in a net total of $28.4bn in assets under management (AUM), marking the ninth consecutive month of positive inflows for the country. Total net inflows YTD amount to $174.8bn, a 12.4% increase over the previous YTD record established in 2013. The ETF/ETP industry in the US had 1,803 ETFs/ETPs listed over 3 exchanges as of 1 November, with assets of over $2.1tn, from 90 providers.
In Europe, the previous YTD record for net new gatherings, which was set in 2014, was also broken as ETFGI reported an increase in new AUM of $68.6bn, 22.7% higher than last year’s numbers.
Interest in Canadian-listed ETFs has also remained strong, with net gatherings of $10.1bn being slightly larger the record set in 2012. Japan, however, has shown the fastest growth rate in ETF demand, with YTD inflows of $35.0bn representing a 121.9% increase over last year’s record.
During October, investors moving funds into ETFs tended to favour ‘risk-on’ asset classes, highlighting the perception that a level of stability had returned to global capital markets following the heightened levels of volatility experienced over the summer. Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at ETFGI, commented: “Equity markets performed well globally in October: the Dow was up 9%, the S&P 500 was 8%, all 10 sectors of the S&P 500 were up for the month, developed markets gained 7%, emerging markets were up 8%. Investors put net money into riskier assets including emerging market equities in October.”
Equity-backed ETFs/ETPs were the most popular during October in the US, gathering $18.2bn in new assets. Fixed income funds attracted $10.9bn while commodity ETFs/ETPs experienced slight outflows of $152m. Since 1 January, equity funds have increased their net AUM by $110.8bn, while fixed income and commodity funds have grown by $49.8bn and $919m respectively.
iShares has further secured their title as world’s largest provider of ETFs (in terms of AUM), raking in $13.5bn in net inflows in the US during October and $72.3bn YTD. Vanguard takes the silver medal with net new gatherings for US funds of $6.8bn during October and $60bn YTD.
Other providers who achieved notable net inflows within the US during October include State Street’s SPDR range of ETFs (+$3.7bn), PowerShares (+$2.0bn), and Schwab ETFs (+$1.2bn)
Over the course of 2015, WisdomTree (+$19.4bn), Deutsche Bank’s db x-trackers (+$16.8bn) and Schwab ETFs (+$11.0bn) have all enjoyed considerable success in the US.