Amundi has reported that North American equity ETFs listed globally have recorded strong inflows of €21 billion in March, amounting to 41% of total equity ETF flows during the month, and a continuation of the trend seen thus far in 2017.

ETFs with exposure to North America equities have seen €48bn inflows YTD, with the majority coming from US-listed ETFs.

Year to date, global ETFs targeting exposure to North American equities have seen positive flows of €48bn, representing 35% of globally-listed equity ETF inflows.

Other notable inflows in March were for ETFs targeting global or Japanese equity exposure; however, large discrepancies in net inflows were recorded between different listing regions. For example, global equity ETFs accounted for 23% of total US-listed equity ETF inflows, 14% of Europe-listed equity ETF inflows but just 1% of total equity ETF flows in Asia.

European investors showed a preference for sector and smart beta ETFs, with 30% of all European-listed equity ETF inflows going to these categories, compared to 8% for US-listed ETFs and only 1% for Asia-listed ETFs. For Europe-listed ETFs information technology and real estate were the top gathering sectors for the month with approximately €408 million and €270m gathered in net new assets respectively. Small-cap ETFs were the most popular smart beta play, attracting €370m.

ETFs with exposure to emerging markets also displayed disparity among regions as Europe-listed and US-listed emerging markets ETFs saw inflows of €1bn and €4bn respectively, while Asia-listed ETFs saw outflows of €1bn.

Fixed income ETFs saw total inflows of €12bn in March, comprised of €9bn in US-listed ETFs, €3bn into Europe-listed ETFs, and flows into Asia-listed ETFs flat. US investors showed a preference for sovereign debt and ETFs that track aggregate indices, while European investors favoured corporate debt. In Europe, emerging market government debt once again led the government debt category with €1bn inflows, followed by US inflation linked bonds with €180m.