ETFGI, a London-based exchange-traded fund consultancy, has announced that the global ETF/ETP industry has reached another milestone by growing to over $3tn in assets under management (AUM). The findings were detailed in the firm’s October Global ETF and ETP Insights report and also show that the number of ETFs/ETPs offered worldwide has surpassed 6,000 products. The global ETF/ETP industry now offers 6,015 ETFs/ETPs, through 11,598 listings, from 271 providers listed on 63 exchanges in 51 countries, as of the end of October.

Despite global volatility levels remaining elevated during September, the successful gathering of new assets has kept the industry on course to surpass previous full-year records. During September alone exchange-traded products globally attracted $32bn in new assets. As it stands there has been net inflows of $251bn from the start of the year to 30 September, 25% more than the previous record set last year.

Against the backdrop of a global equity market sell-off, equity exchange-traded funds and products still managed to see positive net asset flows, with $2.4bn of new money flowing in during August, according to data from ETFGI. Short and leveraged ETPs also had a stellar month, with $7.5bn of net inflows. Globally, ETFs and ETPs gathered $20.8bn during August, marking their nineteenth consecutive month of positive net inflows, and year-to-date net inflows remain on pace to beat the record levels set in 2014. So far this year $219.7bn in net new assets have made their way into this fast-growing product segment, a 16% increase over the first eight months of 2014.