Investors in Canada continued to embrace exchange-traded funds in 2009, pushing total ETF assets under management above $30 billion, iShares reported on Friday.

The latest data from BlackRock, Inc., which owns the iShares ETF business, shows that Canadian ETFs raised $8.5 billion in net new assets in 2009, up from $7.1 billion in 2008.

This rapid growth contributed to a worldwide trend that saw global ETF assets hit an unprecedented US$1 trillion at the end of December 2009.

Canadian ETF assets have grown by 29.6% over the past five years, compared to growth of 5.6% in mutual fund assets over the same period. ETFs now represent 4.6% of all mutual fund assets in Canada, at approximately $686 billion, compared to 3.4% a year ago.

Furthermore, ETF trading now represents approximately 16% of all equity volume in Canada, according to BlackRock.

“ETFs have grown consistently by 30% per year over the past five years demonstrating their appeal to investors in market conditions of all kinds – from the bull to bear to recovery,” said Heather Pelant, managing director, head of iShares Canada at BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited.

“Without question, ETFs have become a popular and widely accepted tool that has fundamentally changed how institutional and retail investment advisors view the markets.”

The data also displays the ways that investors are adjusting their ETF holdings based on changes in the market environment. In 2009, BlackRock found that fixed income, equity and commodity-based ETFs enjoyed heavy inflows.

U.S. data

Assets for the ETF industry in the United States hit an all time high of US$705.5 billion at the end of 2009 – a 41.9% increase from US$497.1 billion at the end of 2008.

The U.S. ETF industry had 772 ETFs from 28 providers on two exchanges at the end of December 2009.

Europe data

European listed ETF assets also hit an all time high at the end of December, reaching US$223.5 billion – a 56.8% increase from US$142.58 billion at the end of 2008.

The European ETF industry had 821 ETFs with 2,359 listings from 32 providers on 18 exchanges at the end of December 2009.

IE