ETFs and ETPs have received record net inflows of $107 billion through the end of May 2013 which is 31% higher than the $82 billion in net flows at this time in 2012. These inflows have helped to push assets invested globally in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) to a new all-time high of $2.14 trillion US dollars, according to preliminary figures from ETFGI’s Global ETF and ETP industry insights report for May 2013. There are now 4,849 ETFs and ETPs, with 9,875 listings, assets of $2.14 trillion, from 211 providers listed on 56 exchanges. ETF and ETP assets have increased by 9.6% from $1.95 trillion to $2.14 trillion.
ETFs and ETPs in May received $24.3 billion in net inflows. Equity ETFs and ETPs gathered the largest net inflows with $25 billion, followed by fixed income ETFs and ETPs with $3.1 billion, while commodity ETFs and ETPs experienced net outflows with $6.7 billion.
Equity ETFs and ETPs saw net inflows of $25 billion in May with US/North American equity exposures gathering $16 billion, the largest net inflows, followed by developed Asia Pacific equity with $8.9 billion, and global equity with $2.1 billion net inflows, while products offering emerging market equity exposure experienced the largest net outflows with $4.3 billion.
Fixed income ETFs and ETPs gathered net inflows of $3.1 billion in May and were composed of $2.2 billion of net inflows into corporate bond products, followed by Government bonds with $1.6 billion, while inflation linked ETFs/ETPs experienced the largest net outflows with $839 million.
Commodity ETFs and ETPs saw net outflows of $6.7 billion. Precious metals ETFs/ETPs experienced the majority of these outflows with $6.3 billion net outflows, of which $6.0 billion left products tracking gold.
In May Vanguard, Daiwa and SPDR ETFs received the largest net new assets with $4.5 billion, $4.4 billion and $4.4 billion in net inflows respectively, followed by Wisdom Tree with $3.1 billion net inflows.
“Net inflows into ETFs providing exposure to Japan during May elevated Daiwa and Wisdom Tree into the top 4 firms out of 211 ranked by net inflows” according to Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner at ETFGI.
iShares remains the largest ETF and ETP provider with assets of $820 billion, reflecting 38.4% market share but ranked 5th in terms of net inflows in May with $2.4 billion; SPDRs is the second largest provider with $365 billion and 17.1% market share, followed by Vanguard with $290 billion and 13.6% market share. PowerShares is fourth placed with $74 billion and 3.5% market share, followed by db x-trackers/db ETCs with $69 billion. The top five ETF and ETP providers, out of 211, account for 76% of global ETF and ETP assets.