Canadian ETFs gathered nearly $5 billion in inflows in August, bringing the 2021 year-to-date total to $37 billion, National Bank said in a monthly ETF report.
The month’s inflows went mostly to equities ETFs, which received $3.5 billion — “one of the highest months year-to-date” for the category, the report said. Most of those flows went to market cap–weighted passive funds.
Sector ETFs as a category were a distant second to passive, attracting $296 million. Among sectors, financials and utilities received the largest inflows, at $150 million and $77 million, respectively, reflecting “mixed market views from investors,” the report said, referring to cyclical versus defensive funds.
Positive inflows into low-volatility funds were maintained in the month, at $120 million, up 1.4%.
Fixed-income ETFs attracted $905 million, with new assets into all categories except cash alternative fund — “a sign of returning bullish sentiment,” the report said.
Commodity ETFs had outflows of $14 million amid dropping oil prices, and cryptoasset ETFs had inflows of $202 million amid the increasing price for Bitcoin, the report said.
August also saw 19 ETF launches featuring strategies such as broad-market, innovation, and environmental, social and governance.