Record ETP flows in first quarter
The exchange-traded products (ETP) sector has seen net assets increase by US$67 billion in the first quarter of 2012 - the best ever start to a year for the sector, according to BlackRock.
New net assets were up 57 per cent in the first quarter of 2011, when the industry attracted US$42.8 billion.
The BlackRock ETP Landscape Industry Highlights report said the figures were an indication of investor optimism, since ETP flows "can provide a barometer of investor sentiment".
iShares Australia managing director Mark Oliver said flows in the first quarter tend to be relatively low due to cyclically high flows in quarter four.
"2012 broke from this normal cyclical pattern. We believe that growing risk-appetite, in the context of low yields in most global markets, may have been a driver," Oliver said.
Fixed income ETPs flows scaled record highs at US$19.5 billion, according to BlackRock.
"Global flows into fixed income ETPs may offer an insight into how these products could gain acceptance in Australia, especially in the wake of the recent introduction of domestic fixed income ETFs now trading on the Australian Securities Exchange," he said.
The top 10 asset-gathering ETPs included emerging market equity products (with global inflows of US$13.7 billion), US large-cap equity, corporate bond, high-yield bonds, volatility products and gold.
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