At a time when Canadian mutual funds are experiencing record outflows, ETFs are seeing record inflows.

For the months of September and October combined, Barclays Global Investors Canada Ltd.’s iShares funds had net inflows of $2.1 billion.

In contrast, the Investment Funds Institute of Canada reported that investors yanked $4.5 billion from mutual funds in September, and a further $8.45 billion in October.

“What we’ve seen in the past few months is a very different attitude towards risk,” said Heather Pelant, head of iShares, Barclays Canada, in a release. “One thing that investors and advisors are recognizing is that complexity is not always a good thing — simplicity is — and that means knowing what you own. We have always been advocates for better investing and we know that iShares ETFs are going to withstand the level of scrutiny that all financial products will be going through.”

Over the past two months, the inflows have been concentrated in iShares CDN LargeCap 60 Index Fund (XIU) with inflows of $1.38 billion, iShares CDN S&P 500 Index Fund (XSP) with inflows of $204 million, and iShares CDN Energy Sector Index Fund (XEG) with inflows of $130 million.

In addition, the family of iShares fixed income funds combined have had a substantial influx of $125 million.

Barclays Canada noted that iShares CDN LargeCap 60 Index Fund was the most heavily traded security on the Toronto Stock Exchange during the month of October, with $8.3 billion total trading.

“Advisors and investors are recognizing that now is the time for transparency, diversification and agility,” said Pelant. “Now is the time for ETFs to be a part of every investor’s portfolio.”

IE