Data from the latest monthly ETFGI Global Industry Insights report reveals that global assets invested in exchange-traded funds and products at the end of August reached an all-time high of over USD1.7trn (USD1,762bn).
Year-to-date through end of August 2012 ETF and ETP assets have increased by 15.5 per cent from USD1,526bn to USD1,762bn.
Over the past 10 years the compounded annual growth rate of these products globally has been 26.5 per cent. There are currently 4,713 ETFs and ETPs, with 9,620 listings, assets of USD1,762bn, from 204 providers on 56 exchanges.
“In a world where investment products come and go in the blink of an eye, ETFs have proved that they are here to stay and might be considered one of the most innovative financial products in the last two decades. They are one of the few products that are offered on the same terms to both retail and institutional investors.
“Market volatility may be making investors wary about the stock market, but they continue to find exchange-traded funds and other exchange traded products useful tools,” says Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at ETFGI.
Capital flows this year within ETFs also demonstrate how these products have become important indicators to gauge shifts in investor sentiment between and among asset classes. Year to date through end of August 2012, ETFs and ETPs saw net inflows of USD143bn which is USD23bn above the level of net new assets at this time last year. Equity ETFs and ETPs have gathered the largest net inflows accounting for USD76bn, followed by fixed income ETFs and ETPs with USD47bn and commodity ETFs and ETPs capturing USD10.5bn.
Fixed income ETFs and ETPs have also proven to be very popular this year with USD47bn in net new assets, which is USD1bn more than the total new assets they received last year. Within the fixed income universe corporate bond products have gathered the largest net inflows with USD18.5bn, followed by high yield products with USD11bn and broad/aggregate bond exposures with USD4.9bn.
Equity focused ETFs and ETPs have gathered USD76bn which is USD7bn more than this time last year. Products providing exposure to the US/North American equities have gathered USD39bn, followed by emerging market equity with USD22bn and Asia Pacific equity with USD7bn.
Commodity flows at USD10.5bn are slightly lower than this time last year. Precious metals have gathered the largest net inflows with USD9.5bn, followed by broad commodity with USD1.3bn and energy with USD901m. Agriculture experienced the largest net outflows at USD1.2bn.
