Global ETF assets have now surpassed US$10 trillion following a period of record growth for the industry.
The year 2021 has been a time of significant milestones for ETFs, with global assets reaching US$8 trillion in January and US$9 trillion in May, according to data from EPFR.
“Investors have undoubtedly shown an accelerated interest in ETFs on a global scale, highlighting what's become the investment vehicle of choice for a large portion of the investing population,” said EPFR director of research Cameron Brandt.
The firm has tracked ETFs since 2002 when assets totalled only about US$2 billion.
ETF assets reached US$1 trillion in December 2009, US$5 trillion in January 2018 and US$7 trillion in October last year.
EPFR reported that equity ETFs now accounted for 25 per cent of the assets held by equity funds globally and 15 percent of bond fund assets were now held in ETFs.
“One quarter of all funds EPFR tracks are ETFs, another significant indicator of a rapid global growth story that shows no signs of slowing down,” said Mr Brandt.
In the past 12 months, a surge of flows has been recorded into socially responsible and ESG ETFs, while the launch of the first bitcoin ETF in the US broke the record for accumulating $1 billion in assets.
North American ETFs accounted for the vast majority of the total assets under management in ETFs with 65 per cent, followed by global (13 per cent), emerging markets (9 per cent), Asia-Pacific (7 per cent) and European (5 per cent) ETFs.
Net flows of $2.4 billion were reported for the month, following a record $2.9 billion of net flows in September.
Jon Bragg
Jon Bragg is a journalist for Momentum Media's Investor Daily, nestegg and ifa. He enjoys writing about a wide variety of financial topics and issues and exploring the many implications they have on all aspects of life.