ETF industry loses $5b in January after market volatility
The Australian exchange traded fund (ETF) industry has started 2022 negatively with losses of $5 billion during January.
According to the monthly report from BetaShares, January saw assets under management fell 3.7%, some $5.1 billion during January.
This was despite inflows of $1.5 billion during the month to end with $131.8 billion.
“With global and Australian sharemarkets falling steeply in the first month of 2022, positive inflows were not enough to combat a drop in asset values, which led to a negative start for the Australian ETF industry,” it said.
The industry ended 2021 at an all-time high of $136.9 billion, growing 44% during the year.
In light of the volatility, monthly trading values increased by 26% to reach its second-highest monthly level on record of $10.3 billion. BetaShares said this had been a growing trend during market volatility as investors took advantage of the liquidity offered by ETFs to express market views.
The majority of inflows went into international equities, which gained $641 million, followed by Australian equities which increased by $410 million.
There were also large inflows into defensive ETFs such as iShares Enhanced Cash ETF, BetaShares Australian High Interest Cash ETF and iShares Government Inflation ETF which gained $107 million, $100 million and $56 million respectively. As a sector, cash ETFs saw inflows of $207 million.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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