Fund Management
Assets In Exchange Traded Funds, ETPs Hit Global Record
The global market for exchange traded funds and products has hit a record, highlighting continued thirst for index-tracking vehicles.
Assets invested in exchange-traded funds and products listed
globally totalled $3.137 trillion at the end of April 2016 - a
new industry high, according to ETFGI data.
Record levels of assets were logged in US-listed ETFs/ETPs, at
$2.217 trillion; in Canada, at $77.42 billion; in Europe, at
$533.34 billion; in Japan, at $145.93 billion; and in
Asia-Pacific ex-Japan, at $125.21 billion.
“Following a strong market performance in March the S&P 500
index was up just 0.39 per cent in April. Developed markets ex-US
were up 3.20 per cent, while emerging markets ended up 1.05 per
cent. The S&P GSCI commodity index was up 10.14 per cent in
April. There is still a significant amount of uncertainty in the
markets due to the upcoming Brexit vote, the US election, the
efficacy and future of QE programmes around the world,” said
Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at ETFGI.
By asset group, fixed income ETFs/ETPs gathered the lion's share
of net inflows with $7.73 billion, followed by equity with $2.39
billion. Commodity ETFs/ETPs suffered $136 million in net
outflows.
In terms of industry players, iShares bagged the largest net
inflows, of $6.01 billion, followed by Vanguard with $5.98
billion and ProShares with $1.18 billion.
As of end-April the industry counted 6,297 ETFs/ETPs among its
ranks.
