Tradeweb writes that trading activity on the Tradeweb European ETF marketplace amounted to EUR44.6 billion in August.
The firm writes that the month saw the highest ever percentage of notional volume automated via Tradeweb’s Automated Intelligent Execution (AiEX) at 33 per cent, while the proportion of AiEX transactions matched July’s record number of 94 per cent.
Adam Gould, Global Head of Equities at Tradeweb, says: “As market volatility subsided in the month of August, trading activity on our European ETF platform remained solid amid the traditional summer slowdown. Clients continue to up their use of automation in their everyday trading strategies, expanding the use of electronic tools to access liquidity more efficiently and manage execution with greater precision.”
Volume breakdown
In August, equities remained the most actively-traded ETF asset class, comprising 69 per cent of the overall platform flow. Once again, all ETF asset classes saw net buying, with ‘buys’ exceeding ‘sells’ for equity-, fixed income- and commodity-based funds by 16, 24 and 36 percentage points, respectively.
North America Equities continued to be the most heavily-traded ETF category, with over EUR 10 billion traded in August.
In August, seven of the 10 most actively-traded ETFs were equity-based, with the rest comprising fixed income- and commodity-based funds. The iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF moved to the top spot after placing second in July, followed by the iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF. The iShares Core EURO STOXX 50 UCITS ETF, which offers exposure to the 50 largest Eurozone companies, took the third spot.
In the US, total consolidated US ETF notional value traded in August reached USD67.7 billion.
Adam Gould, Global Head of Equities at Tradeweb, says: “There was healthy trading activity on our US ETF marketplace in August, driven by ongoing institutional ETF adoption. We continue to see clients turn to the product to efficiently access diversified exposures and implement trading strategies in different market environments.”
As a percentage of total notional value, equities accounted for 54 per cent and fixed income for 40 per cent, with the remainder comprising commodity and specialty ETFs.
In a continuation of July’s trend, six of the top 10 most heavily-traded ETFs in August were fixed income-based products, with the remainder being equity-based. The Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund ETF kept its top spot, while the Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF moved from fourth in July to rank second.
