After a roller coaster August for investors, exchange–traded funds and exchange-traded products $2.4 billion in net new assets, according to ETFGI, a London-based research and consultancy firm. While it represented a slowdown from previous months, it nonetheless maintained a record-breaking pace for net ETF inflows.
In the first eight months of 2015, ETFs and ETPs listed globally have experienced net inflows of $219.7 billion, marking a 16% increase over the prior record set during the first eight months of 2014.
In the United States net inflows reached $127.5 billion, which is 19% higher than the prior record set last year, while in Europe year-to-date net inflows climbed to $59.7 billion, representing a 17% increase on the record set YTD through end of August 2014. In Japan, YTD net inflows were up 74% on the record set last year, standing at $28.9 billion at the end of August 2015.
“Worries about China’s stock market, currency and economy mixed with falling commodity prices helped to cause a correction in the U.S. stock market,” Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at ETFGI, said in a statement. “Investors in the United States are concerned given the uncertainty of when the Fed will raise interest rates. The S&P 500 index ended August down 6%.”
At the end of August 2015, the U.S. ETF and ETP industry had 1,768 offerings and assets of $2.03 trillion from 85 providers listed on three exchanges.
Vanguard gathered the largest net ETF and ETP inflows in August with S$3.6 billion, followed by Deutsche Bank x-trackers with $1.4 billion, VelocityShares withS$1.3 billion, ProShares with $969 million and Schwab ETFs with $812 million net inflows.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of 401(k) Specialist and Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots. Experienced financial services content executive specializing in creative new media delivery. He joined the American Retirement Association in 2023 as Chief Content Officer, overseeing communications for the organization, as well as its sister organizations.