Canadian fixed income exchange-traded funds (ETF) experienced eight per cent growth in assets under management (AUM) in the second quarter of 2011, including USD633 million in net new assets. Conversely, Canadian equity ETFs experienced an 8 per cent retraction in AUM and USD691 million in net outflows, according to information compiled by the iShares ETF business at BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (BlackRock(R) Canada), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc.
“In these uncertain economic times, investors have made income generation a priority and sought the safe harbour of fixed income investments,” says Mary Anne Wiley (pictured), head of iShares distribution, BlackRock Canada.
ETF AUM overall dropped in the second quarter, partly resulting from significant weakness in the equity markets (the S&P(R)/TSX(R) Composite Index returned -5.1 per cent in the second quarter). Total AUM of Canadian ETFs was USD39.7 billion in Q2, compared to USD41.4 billion AUM in Q1, representing a drop of 4 per cent. iShares ETFs continue to be the market leader amongst all the providers with 70.5 per cent of market share and USD28 billion AUM followed by Claymore Investments, Inc. with 15.8 per cent and USD6.3 billion AUM.
“In addition to the outflows we’ve seen for Canadian equities we have seen significant outflows for inverse ETFs in the second quarter,” says Wiley.
