Assets invested in exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products listed globally reached a new record high of $3,445bn at the end of November 2016, according to latest research from London-based ETF consultant ETFGI.
Record levels of assets under management were also reached at the end of November for ETFs/ETPs listed in the United States at $2,471bn, and in Canada at $83.4bn.
Net new flows gathered by ETFs/ETPs globally in November were very strong at $59.0bn, marking the 34th consecutive month of net inflows.
Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest and a record level of net inflows for the month at $64.7bn. The majority of flows went into ETFs/ETPs providing exposure to the US equity market, reflecting the bullish sentiment for US equities following Donald Trump’s successful bid for the White House.
Fixed income ETFs/ETPs experienced net outflows of $333m while commodity ETFs/ETPs shed $3.2bn in net flows.
Active ETFs/ETPs gathered a record level of $1.1bn.
The most successful gatherer of net new assets during the month was SPDR ETFs with $20.3bn, followed by iShares with $18.5bn and Vanguard with $10.8bn in net inflows.
Year-to-date (YTD) through end of November 2016, ETFs/ETPs have gathered a record $324.1bn, up from the prior record of $317.0bn reached over the same period in 2015.
Equity ETFs/ETPs have gathered the largest net inflows YTD with $168.6bn, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs which gathered a record level of $104.9bn, significantly higher than the prior YTD record of $78.2bn set in 2015. Commodity ETFs/ETPs also gathered a record level of $35.1bn YTD, up from the $22.7bn set in 2012.
Reflecting the turbulence in financial markets caused by major geo-political events during the year, inverse and leveraged ETFs/ETPs also gathered a record level of $7.5bn, up from the prior record of $6.0bn set in 2013, as a greater number of traders turned to the funds for tactical plays or to hedge their portfolios.
YTD, iShares gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows with $114.7bn, followed by Vanguard with $83.5bn and SPDR ETFs with $44.0bn.
At the end of November 2016, the global ETF/ETP industry had 6,605 ETFs/ETPs, with 12,540 listings from 288 providers listed on 65 exchanges in 53 countries.