The exchange-traded funds (ETF) sector has continued to grow for an eighth consecutive month, recording a new level of assets under management and strong net inflows despite falls in the Australian equities market.
The ETF market reached $7.6 billion in assets under management in May, with net inflows increasing 4 per cent to $248 million for that month. At the same time the market cap for ETFs increased by 2.8 per cent to $204 million, according to data released by BetaShares.
ETFs which attracted the most interest were those with international equities exposure, which attracted $150 million of inflows. US dollar ETFs attracted $23 million of inflows as the Australian dollar depreciated against its US counterpart during May. However, gold bullion ETFs had redemptions of $35 million.
High yield products also attracted significant inflows of $100 million, with the record levels of domestic inflows to ETFs reflecting a global inflows trend which reached $26.5 billion in May and more than $100 billion for 2013.
Trading values in ETFs also increased by 50 per cent month-on-month, with 85 ETF products being actively traded on the Australian Stock Exchange.
“The month of May has been another positive month for the Australian exchange-traded fund industry, which once again hit a record high. Local investor appetite is buoyant, with trading value increasing 50 per cent since April,” said BetaShares managing director Alex Vynokur.
