The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS) now ranks as the largest ETF in Australia with a market cap of $11.8 billion as of the end of 2022.
According to data published by BetaShares as part of its Australian ETF review for 2022, VAS received $2.6 billion of inflows last year, more than double any other ETF.
“This year we saw a change in the league table in the largest and second largest ETFs in the country, primarily due to the sustained outflows recorded in Magellan’s global fund,” said BetaShares chief commercial officer Ilan Israelstam.
“In general, we saw a relatively large number of position changes in the top 10 table reflecting the market declines and changes in investor appetites over the year.”
The Magellan Global Fund (Open Class) (Managed Fund) (MGOC) ranked second with a market cap of $7.5 billion. The fund suffered $4.2 billion of outflows throughout 2022.
Following VAS and MGOC was the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (VGS), which moved up three positions in the rankings to third place with a market cap of $5.0 billion, while the iShares S&P 500 ETF (IVV) fell one place to fourth with a market cap of $4.8 billion.
The SPDR S&P/ASX 200 (STW) remained in fifth position ($4.6 billion), the iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (IOZ) fell two places to sixth ($3.6 billion) and the VanEck Vectors MSCI World Ex-Australia Quality ETF (QUAL) moved up one place to seventh ($3.0 billion).
Rounding out the top 10 were the Vanguard US Total Market Shares Index ETF (VTS) in eighth ($2.9 billion), which was down one place, Betashares Australian High Interest Cash ETF (AAA) in ninth ($2.7 billion), three places higher than last year, and the Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF (VHY) in 10th place ($2.6 billion), jumping up seven positions.
In terms of inflows received over the year, VGS came second with $983.9 million, ahead of the BetaShares Australia 200 ETF (A200) with $772.6 million, QUAL with $671.1 million and the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares (Hedged) ETF (VGAD) with $539.9 million.
After Magellan, IOZ received the next largest outflows of $1.1 billion, followed by the BetaShares Global Energy Companies ETF - Currency Hedged (FUEL) on $252.9 million, the Magellan High Conviction Trust (Managed Fund) (MHHT) with $170.8 million and the Antipodes Global Shares (Quoted Managed Fund) (AGX1) on $139.9 million.
“Examining the top inflow and outflow products provides a stark illustration of the demand for broad market passive products and the eschewing of Active ETFs over the course of 2022,” commented Mr Israelstam.
“Six of the top 10 funds for net outflows were active ETFs, with Magellan’s MGOC fund sustaining more than $4 billion in net outflows in what was a very difficult year for their overall fund range.”
VAS was the top ranked ETF by average daily trading value ($36.7 million) followed by IOZ ($31.1 million). The BetaShares Australian Strong Bear (Hedge Fund) (BBOZ) was next at $24.8 million, while AAA ($19.4 million) and STW ($14.3 million) rounded out the top five.
“Although flows were down significantly on 2021, 2022 was a record year for ETF trading, as investors took a more active view on their investments given market volatility,” Mr Israelstam said.
“The top 10 most traded funds remained relatively stable, albeit there was a significant increase in trading of broad Australian sharemarket ETFs given the interest investors took in this asset class.”
As part of its end of year review, BetaShares predicted that the Australian ETF industry will exceed $150 billion at the end of this year.
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.
