Alex Vynokur
Positive net inflows in July raised the Australian exchange traded fund (ETF) industry by 2.3% (or $688.4 million), to a new record high of $30.1 billion in funds under management (FUM), according to the BetaShares Australian ETF Review – July 2017.
In a month where the Australian share market was flat, 100% of the growth in assets came from net inflows, rather than asset appreciation.
In line with trends for the year to date, ETFs offering exposure to Broad Australian Equities continued to record the strongest inflows, followed by Broad Global Equities products. Fixed income ETFs also received strong inflows during the month.
Unhedged gold ETFs were sold off in the month of July, although given recent heightened tensions between North Korea and the US, we may well see Gold returning to favour.
Investors in more tactical exposures were rewarded in terms of performance this month, with the Strong Australian Dollar Fund (hedge fund) (ASX: AUDS) being the top performer as the Aussie dollar rallied. The Oil ETF (ASX: OOO) recorded the second-best performance of the month.
BetaShares Managing Director, Alex Vynokur, said: “Hitting the $30 billion milestone is a significant achievement for the Australian ETF industry and an unequivocal sign of investors’ strong adoption and understanding of ETF products.”
“The size of the industry today also reflects the value that ETFs have delivered to investors in Australia, in terms of ease of access to all major asset classes, convenience and product transparency,” he concluded.
The total number of exchange traded products available on the ASX remained unchanged at 212.