BetaShares August Australian ETF Review: Industry FUM hits new record, growth driven by new money and products

From
Alex Vynokur

Alex Vynokur

The Australian exchange traded fund industry hit a new all-time high in August of $23.6 billion in funds under management (FUM), according to the BetaShares Australian ETF Review.

The industry gained a modest 1% (or $220 million) in FUM, building on the positive growth from July, which had marked the previous record.

With the decline in the Australian share market and a flat month for most other global markets, all the growth in the industry was attributable to new money rather than asset value growth. During the month, there were $280 million of inflows into the industry.

International equities and fixed income continued to be the categories receiving the most interest from investors, with $140 million and $83 million of the month’s inflows, respectively.

Product growth continued unabated, with five new funds being launched, including three new products from the BetaShares Global Sector Series (Global Banks (BNKS), Global Agriculture (FOOD), Global Healthcare (DRUG), AMP Capital Dynamic Markets Fund (Hedge Fund) (DMKT) and Schroders Real Return Fund (GROW)). The new funds add up to a total of 25 products being launched so far in 2016.

BetaShares Managing Director, Alex Vynokur, said: “The strong demand for exchange traded funds from Australian investors and their need for diversification is driving product growth across the industry.”

“As demand grows and Australian investors become increasingly sophisticated with their usage of exchange traded funds, we expect to see further product innovation to meet this evolving demand.”

The best performing exposures in August were Asian Equities, including broad Asian regional exposures and the currency-hedged BetaShares WisdomTree Japan ETF (HJPN). Both recorded a monthly performance of approximately 6%.

Download the BetaShares report here.

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