Global asset flows into fixed income exchange-traded products reached a record $9.1 billion last month, translating into $34.1 billion in net new assets and $1.65 trillion in assets under management, according to BlackRock’s January ETP Landscape report.

The BlackRock report states that the inflows of $9.1 billion within fixed income ETPs were driven primarily by investment grade and high-yield corporate bond products, which brought in $3 billion and $4 billion respectively, representing an aggregate 77 per cent of new fixed income flows for the month.

Meanwhile, emerging markets equity ETPs harvested $6.6 billion in net new assets, reversing the trend from the second half of last year, which saw net redemptions in the final quarter.

On a broader scale, ETP industry flows were up 116 per cent from December 2011 and 144 per cent compared to January the same year - which at the time marked the best performance to date - the report says. Overall, ETP AuM is up 8.3 per cent from 2011 year-end, while equity ETP flows also increased to $22.6 billion.

“In an environment where long-dated treasuries offer negative returns as measured against core inflation, investors sought out income-producing products, including dividend-focused equity ETPs, which attracted net inflows of $3 billion, and investment grade and high-yield corporate bond ETPs, which together garnered $7 billion of net new assets in January 2012,” the report says.