September breaks ETF records
In a month where both global and Australian equities fell, exchange traded funds (ETF) investors “bought the dip”, with the industry recording its highest monthly net inflows in September, according to BetaShares.
The firm’s September ‘Australian ETF Review’ report found there was inflows of $2.9 billion into the industry, breaking the previous level set in July by $200 million.
But the high level of flows managed to offset the asset value declines, causing the Australian ETF industry to grow only slightly to a new high of $125.3 billion in funds under management.
And the industry grew by around $54 billion over the last 12 months, a growth of 76%.
Monthly trading value remained high, increasing 4% month on month, with over $9 billion of trading activity, matching the trading value seen in the spike of March 2020.
BetaShares took the crown in terms of monthly net inflows by issuer, breaking the all-time monthly record for the industry with $1.14 billion, beating Vanguard by about $100 million.
According to Betashares, the mix of inflows was more mixed than the pattern observes in the year so far, with Australian and international equities receiving about the same amount.
The ETF provider also said September saw a “return to meaningful flows from cash and fixed income” with $382 million coming from the former and $333 million coming from the latter.
“The compositions of the industry’s flows illustrates the extent to which ETFs are able to help investors diversify their portfolios across all major asset classes,” it said.
AUTHOR
Liam Cormican
Recommended for you
Outflows from an Australian private markets fund manager have caused FUM at Pacific Current to decline by $1 billion in the last quarter.
Former RIAA chief executive Simon O’Connor has joined the ethical advisory panel at U Ethical Investors.
Financial services leaders are “all cashed up with nowhere to grow” when it comes to M&A activity, according to Deloitte, with 90 per cent saying they have strong balance sheets ready for an acquisition.
As fund managers are urged to diversify their product ranges, they are finding a faster way to do this is via an acquisition of existing firms but experts say it is not without potential culture clashes.
