The global exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry saw assets rise to almost US$3 trillion by the end of April, according to the latest data from research firm ETFGI.
Total assets in ETFs and exchange-traded products (ETPs) reached a new record of US$2.998 trillion, reports ETFGI in its preliminary industry report for April. Within that global total, record levels were also reached for most individual markets, including Canada (US$69.9 billion), the United States, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.
During the month, ETFs/ETPs saw net inflows of US$10.6 billion, ETFGI reports. Most of the net inflows, US$9.8 billion, went to fixed-income products. Equity ETFs/ETPs were a distant second, with US$1.8 billion of net inflows, and commodity products saw net outflows of US$1.1 billion.
“Market performance outside the United States contributed to the overall increase in assets invested in ETFs/ETPs. Developed and emerging markets had a very good month, gaining 5% and 8%, respectively while in the United States the S&P 500 and Dow were up less than 1%,” according to Deborah Fuhr, managing partner of ETFGI.
ETFGI also reports that through the end of April, ETFs/ETPs have seen year-to-date net inflows of US$108.8 billion, with US$53.2 billion in equity products, US$41.2 billion in fixed-income products and US$5.6 billion in commodity products.