Assets In Exchange Traded Funds, ETPs Hit Global Record

Eliane Chavagnon

10 May 2016

Assets invested in exchange-traded funds and products listed globally totalled $3.137 trillion at the end of April 2016 - a new industry high, according to data.

Record levels of assets were logged in US-listed ETFs/ETPs, at $2.217 trillion; in Canada, at $77.42 billion; in Europe, at $533.34 billion; in Japan, at $145.93 billion; and in Asia-Pacific ex-Japan, at $125.21 billion.

“Following a strong market performance in March the S&P 500 index was up just 0.39 per cent in April. Developed markets ex-US were up 3.20 per cent, while emerging markets ended up 1.05 per cent. The S&P GSCI commodity index was up 10.14 per cent in April. There is still a significant amount of uncertainty in the markets due to the upcoming Brexit vote, the US election, the efficacy and future of QE programmes around the world,” said Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at ETFGI.

By asset group, fixed income ETFs/ETPs gathered the lion's share of net inflows with $7.73 billion, followed by equity with $2.39 billion. Commodity ETFs/ETPs suffered $136 million in net outflows.

In terms of industry players, iShares bagged the largest net inflows, of $6.01 billion, followed by Vanguard with $5.98 billion and ProShares with $1.18 billion.

As of end-April the industry counted 6,297 ETFs/ETPs among its ranks.