ETF investors favouring international equities


Investors into exchange traded funds (ETFs) have been seeking exposure to international equities with the sector seeing the highest flows of $722 million during August.
In the latest monthly BetaShares ETF Review, international equities saw the highest volume of flows at $722 million compared to just $181 million for Australian equities.
Popular international equity ETFs included Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF, which saw inflows of $59 million during August, VanEck Vectors MSCI World Ex-Australia Quality ETF and BetaShares Global Sustainability Leaders ETF – Currency Hedged.
All three of these ETFs were among the top 10 funds to report to highest inflows during August.
The highest overall inflows were seen in the BetaShares Australian High Interest Cash ETF which saw inflows of over $200 million, almost double the second fund, ETFS Physical Gold, which saw inflows of $111 million.
While there was less interest in Australian equity ETFs, two still managed to make the top 10 which were VanEck Vectors Australian Shares Index ETF and Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF.
Across the other asset classes, investors poured $367 million into fixed income ETFs, $308 million into cash and $187 million into commodities as they sought out defensive assets.
Assets in the total ETF industry reached $70.7 billion, a 5.3% increase on July.
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