Assets under management in ETFs and ETPs (hereafter ETFs) listed in the US broke through the $4 trillion milestone in July 2019, according to data from ETF industry consultants ETFGI.

Deborah Fuhr, Founder & Owner of ETFGI.

Assets invested in US-listed ETFs increased by 1.6% during the month, growing from $3.96tn at the end of June to a new record of $4.02tn.

Strong inflows of $33.9 billion were recorded in July, notably above average monthly inflows of $19.3bn recorded during the first six months of the year. Year-to-date net inflows for the US stand at $149.8bn.

Equity ETFs attracted the largest net inflows in July, pulling in $23.6bn and taking YTD net inflows to $64.9bn.

Seven of the top ten ETFs by net new assets during July were equity funds. The three leading the field were all giant S&P 500 tracker funds – the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY US), the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV US), and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO US) – which collectively accounted for almost $10bn in net new assets.

Fixed Income ETFs brought in net inflows of $7.6bn during July, lifting YTD net inflows to $73.1bn.

Commodity ETFs/ETPs gathered $2.3bn with total net inflows for 2019 amounting to just $2.5bn.

The effect of upwards-trending US equity markets also contributed towards the $4tn milestone being reached. International developed and emerging market indices recording small losses during July.

Deborah Fuhr, Founder of ETFGI, commented, “The S&P 500 gained 1.4% in July as strong earnings combined with signs of economic growth and expectations of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve supported equity gains.

“International markets posted losses with the S&P Developed Ex-US and the S&P Emerging BMI both down 1% with headwinds including US dollar strength. Boris Johnson began his term as UK Prime Minister with demands for a renegotiation of the EU withdrawal agreement, issuing a threat to otherwise leave without one. Pound sterling fell to near its lowest in two years.”

As of the end of July 2019, the US ETF industry accounted for 70.0% of global ETF AUM with ETFGI reporting worldwide ETF assets of $5.74tn.

Europe’s ETF industry is closing in on the $1tn mark with $910.3bn AUM at the end of July, representing 15.9% of the global total. Canada accounts for $139.1bn or 2.4% of global AUM.