The sector has now experienced net inflows for 25 consecutive months. Record levels of net new assets in January and February were gathered by ETFs/ETPs listed in Asia-Pacific ex Japan, at $6.41 billion, and by Japan-listed ETFs/ETPs, at $9.24 billion year-to-date.

Last month, fixed income ETFs/ETPs generated the largest net inflows with $13.64 billion, followed by commodity ETFs/ETPs with $8.89 billion. Equity ETFs/ETPs saw net outflows of $12.95 billion.

“February was another volatile month for equity markets which drove investors to invest net flows into government bonds and gold. The S&P 500 closed the month down 0.13 per cent. Despite recent uncertainty, emerging markets gained 0.31 per cent in February, while developed markets outside of the US declined 1 per cent,” said Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at ETFGI.

US investment giant Vanguard enjoyed the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in February with $4.18 billion, followed by BlackRock's iShares with $3.1 billion, and Japan's Nomura Asset Management with $1.49 billion.

The firm's latest figures show the global ETF/ETP industry has 6,200 ETFs/ETPs, with 11,963 listings, assets of $2.85 trillion, from 279 providers listed on 64 exchanges across 51 countries.