WE rings The Opening Bell in 2016 at the NYSE along with representatives of BNY, UN, IFC.

For the 3rd year, a global collaboration across 43 stock exchanges around the world plan to “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality,” to celebrate International Women’s Day 2017 (March 8th).

The events are a partnership between Women in ETFs, UN Global Compact, UN Women, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, IFC, and the World Federation of Stock Exchanges, to raise awareness about the business case for women’s economic empowerment and the opportunities for the private sector to advance gender equality and sustainable development.

A new report to be published on March 6th by the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative with GIZ*, highlights how exchanges and businesses can and are advancing gender equality. It cites a number of imperative challenges:

• women take home 1/10 of global income, while accounting for 2/3 of global working hours; and
• according to a 2016 review of 1,000 listed companies by Bloomberg, the average representation of women in the leadership was 23% in senior management, 21% on boards, 4% have a female chairperson, and 3% have a female CEO.

However, there is evidence of a business case:

• female representation in leadership has shown to improve performance metrics such as ROA, ROE, and EPS while reducing volatility;
• if better served, women-owned small businesses could add around $285 billion to the global economy; and
• the global economy could be up to $28 trillion larger in 2025 if gender gaps were eliminated.

Jill Mavro, co-President of WE and Senior Managing Director, SSgA SPDR, explained: “There is a natural synergy for WE to celebrate International Women’s Day. Our mission is to further the careers of women today by leveraging our collective skill and ambition.”

Diana Tidd, co-President of WE and Head of Index at MSCI, added: “Gender equality is central to driving the global economy and the private sector has an important role to play.”

Out of the 43 bell ringing celebrations taking place globally from March 2nd – 10th, Women in ETFs is the lead partner on 17 Bell Ringing events that will welcome WE leadership teams, corporate sponsors, and members, with host speakers presenting the business case for women’s economic empowerment.

Deborah Fuhr, External Liaison for WE, Founder of WE and Managing Partner of ETFGI, commented: “It is facts like these that brought together a global movement.

Women in ETFs has gathered over 2,600 members (women and men) in chapters in financial centers in the US, Canada, EMEA, and Asia Pacific, and has received the support of many industry participants. WE is looking forward to continuing to expanding their organisation via various events and dedicated initiatives in new countries.

*The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH or GIZ in short is a German development agency headquartered in Bonn and Eschborn that provides services in the field of international development cooperation.

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The Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) ETF/ETP region had 824 ETFs/ETPs, with 965 listings, assets of US$121 Bn, from 114 providers listed in 18 exchanges in 14 countries at the end of Q1, according to preliminary data from ETFGI’s March 2016 global ETF and ETP industry insights report.

“U.S. equities rebounded in March ending the month up 7%. Emerging markets and Developed ex US markets also had a strong March ending up 12.5% and 7.2% respectively. Based on comments from the Fed there is a growing belief that interest rates will be held lower for longer than previously anticipated. The European Central Bank cut rates and announced additional stimulus will begin in April, accelerating the rate of bond purchases from 60 to 80 billion euros per month” according to Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at ETFGI.

In March 2016, ETFs/ETPs listed in the Asia Pacific ex Japan region gathered net inflows of US$665 Mn. Fixed income ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows with US$349 Mn, followed equity ETFs/ETPs with US$23 Mn, and commodity ETFs/ETPs which gathered US$22 Mn in net inflows in March while leveraged ETFs/ETPs experienced the largest net outflows with US$940 Mn.

YTD through end ofQ1 2016, ETFs/ETPs listed in the Asia Pacific ex Japan region gathered net inflows of US$7.09 Bn. Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows YTD with US$4.16 Bn, followed by commodity ETFs/ETPs with US$686 Mn, and fixed income ETFs/ETPs which gathered US$342Bn in net inflows in Q1.

In March 2016, 10 new ETFs/ETPs were launched by 7 providers and 3 ETFs/ETPs were closed.

CSOP/China Southern gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in March with US$456 Mn, followed by HSBC/Hang Seng with US$401 Mn and Yuanta with US$162 Mn net inflows.

In Q1, CSOP/China Southern gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows YTD with US$1.18 Bn, followed by Yuanta with US$906 Mn and HSBC/Hang Seng with US$848 Mn net inflows.

CSI has the largest amount of ETF/ETP assets tracking its benchmarks with 24.3% market share; Hang Seng is second with 19.0% market share, followed by Korea Exchange with 11.8% market share.

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Our forecast was that assets would break through US$3 trillion by the middle of 2015. It took the global ETF/ETP industry 19 years to reach US$1 trillion in assets under management, 23 years to reach US$2 trillion in AUM and just 25 years to reach US$3 trillion in AUM. The increasing rate of asset growth illustrates how ETFs have been embraced as an investment solution by institutional investors, financial advisors and retail investors around the world according to Deborah Fuhr, managing partner of ETFGI.

Record levels of assets were also reached at the end of May for ETFs/ETPs listed in the United States at US$2.15 trillion and Japan at US$117 billion.

In May the both the S&P 500  and the Dow were up 1% while, developed markets were down 1%, and emerging markets declined 3% according to Deborah Fuhr, managing partner of ETFGI.

In May 2015, ETFs/ETPs listed globally saw net inflows of US$19.1 Bn.  Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered net inflows of US$20.8 Bn, while fixed income ETFs/ETPs experienced net outflows of US$1.5 Bn and Commodity ETFs/ETPs had net outflows of US$912 Mn.

Through the end of May record levels of net new assets (NNA) have been reached by ETFs/ETPs listed globally gathering US$127.6 billion which is a significant increase over the prior record of US$109.4 billion gathered in in the first five months of 2013. YTD products listed in Europe gathered US$39.2 billion which is significantly more than the prior record of US$26.4 billion gathered over the same period in 2014. ETFs/ETPs listed in Japan gathered US$14.5 billion, which is slightly higher than the US$14.3 billion gathered during the same period in 2014, and ETFs/ETPs listed in Canada gathered US$5.6 Bn which is slightly higher than the prior record of US$5.5 Bn gathered in the first 5 months of 2012.

Vanguard gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in May with US$5.2 Bn, followed by Huatai-PB with US$3.4 Bn, WisdomTree with US$1.7 Bn net inflows and First Trust with US$1.6 Bn.

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The global ETF/ETP industry had 5,669 ETFs/ETPs, with 10,961 listings, from 247 providers listed on 63 exchanges in 51 countries.

Record levels of net new assets (NNA) have been reached in Q1 by ETFs/ETPs listed globally, gathering US$95.99 billion – a significant increase on the US$37.20 billion in Q1 2014.

Products listed in the United States gathered US$57.53 billion which is considerably higher than the US$15.06 billion gathered in Q1 2014, while ETFs/ETPs listed in Europe gathered US$34.97 billion, which is more than double the US$11.17 billion gathered in Q1 2014. ETFs/ETPs listed in Japan gathered NNA of US$10.61 billion, which is greater than the US$7.7 billion in Q1 2014.

With the ECB beginning QE investors have allocated the majority of net new assets to European equities. Developed markets were up 4% and emerging markets were up 2% Q1 while in the US had a turbulent first quarter with the S&P 500 ending Q1 up 1%” according to Deborah Fuhr, managing partner of ETFGI.

YTD through end of Q1 2015, ETFs/ETPs have seen net inflows of US$95.99 Bn.

Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows YTD with US$49.34 Bn, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with US$31.44 Bn, and commodity ETFs/ETPs with US$6.73 Bn.

iShares gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows YTD with US$38.80 Bn, followed by Vanguard with US$23.38 Bn, WisdomTree with US$13.28 Bn and DB/x-trackers with US$11.45 Bn in net inflows.

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The Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) ETF/ETP industry had 609 ETFs/ETPs, with 744 listings, assets of US$118 Bn, from 108 providers listed on 17 exchanges in 13 countries at the end of February.

March 9th marked the 25th anniversary of the listing of the first ETF in Canada.

“Investors allocated the majority of net new assets to equities as the US market rebounded from a difficult January to end February with both the S&P 500 and the Dow up 6% for the month. Volatility declined during the month. Developed markets were up 6% for the month, while emerging and frontier markets were up 3%” according to Deborah Fuhr, managing partner of ETFGI.

In February 2015, ETFs/ETPs listed in Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) saw net inflows of US$1.3 Bn. Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows with US$1.5 Bn, followed by commodity ETFs/ETPs with US$55 Mn, while fixed income ETFs/ETPs saw net outflows of US$114 Mn.

Huatai-PB gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in February with US$1.1 Bn, followed by CSOP/China Southern with US$656 Mn and Mirae Horizons with US$146 Mn net inflows.

The top 100 ETFs/ETPs, out of 609, account for 89.0% of assets in Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) ETF/ETP industry. Only 21 ETFs/ETPs have greater than US$1 Bn in assets, while 497 ETFs/ETPs have less than US$100 Mn in assets.

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March 9th marked the 25th anniversary of the listing of the first ETF in Canada.

ETFs/ETPs listed globally

The global ETF/ETP industry had 5,632 ETFs/ETPs, with 10,902 listings, from 245 providers listed on 63 exchanges in 51 countries. We expect the assets to break through the US$3 trillion milestone in the first half of 2015. There were US$50.7 billion in net new asset (NNA) inflows in February – the second largest NNA month on record.

“Investors allocated the majority of net new assets to equities as the US market rebounded from a difficult January to end February with both the S&P 500 and the Dow up 6% for the month. Volatility declined during the month. Developed markets were up 6% for the month, while emerging and frontier markets were up 3%” according to Deborah Fuhr, managing partner of ETFGI.

In February 2015, ETFs/ETPs saw net inflows of US$50.7 Bn. Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows with US$30.4 Bn, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with US$15.6 Bn, and commodity ETFs/ETPs with US$2.9 Bn in net inflows. On a YTD basis the net new asset flows into fixed income, commodities, active ETFs and globally are at record levels at US$28.8 Bn, US$8.0 Bn, US$2.7 Bn and US$62.0 Bn respectively.

iShares gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in February with US$19.9 Bn, followed by Vanguard with US$5.9 Bn and SPDR ETFs with US$4.3 Bn net inflows. On a YTD basis, iShares gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows with US$26.9 Bn, followed by Vanguard with US$15.7 Bn and WisdomTree with US$6.8 Bn net inflows.

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The Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) ETF/ETP industry had 543 ETFs/ETPs, with 676 listings, from 97 providers listed on 15 exchanges, according to preliminary data from ETFGI’s end July 2014 Global ETF and ETP industry insights report.
The ETF/ETP industries in Europe, in Japan and globally have gathered record levels of YTD NNA at US$42.7 Bn, US$14.9 Bn and US$160.5 Bn, respectively.

New record highs in assets were reached at the end of July by ETF/ETP industries in Canada with US$66 Bn, Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) with US$103 Bn and Japan with US$91.5 Bn.

“In July investors invested the majority of new money into equity exposures as investor confidence was positive through most of month. The S&P 500 hit an all-time high during July but ended the month down 1% as market were rattled at the very end of the month by the situations in the Ukraine and Gaza and a poor start to the U.S. earnings season.

Developed markets outside the US ended the month down 2%, while emerging markets gained 2%, Asia was up 5% and frontier markets were up 4% in July.” according to Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner at ETFGI.

In July 2014 in Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) ETFs/ETPs saw net inflows of US$1.21 Bn. Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows with US$1.42 Bn, followed by commodity ETFs/ETPs with net inflows of US$3 Mn, while fixed income ETFs/ETPs saw net outflows of US$41 Mn.

CSOP/China Southern gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in July with US$885 Mn, followed by Bosera AM with US$356 Mn and iShares with US$355 Mn net inflows.

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ETFs and ETPs reach a record high in April.

ETFs and ETPs listed globally gathered US$34.0 billion in net new assets in April which, when combined with a small positive market performance in the month, pushed assets in the global ETF/ETP industry to a new record high of US$2.49 trillion, according to preliminary data from ETFGI’s April 2014 Global ETF and ETP industry insights report.

At the end of April 2014 there were 5,241 ETFs/ETPs, with 10,238 listings, from 221 providers listed on 59 exchanges around the world.

The ETF/ETP industry in many countries and regions also hit record highs in assets at the end of April 2014 including: the United States at US$1.76 Trn, Europe at US$449.7 Bn, Japan at US$82.4 Bn, Canada at US$61.1 Bn, and the Middle East/Africa at US$41.4 Bn.

“In April, as was the case in March, investors continued to show a strong preference to equity allocations. Equity markets were again choppy in April – the S&P 500 closed at an all-time high on April 2nd but ended the month up less than 1%. The DJIA closed the month at an all-time high of 16,581. Outside the U.S., developed markets improved slightly, European equities continued to strengthen, while emerging markets remained flat for the month.” according to Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner at ETFGI.

In April 2014, ETFs/ETPs globally gathered net inflows of US$34.0 Bn. Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows with US$27.5 Bn, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with US$6.3 Bn, while commodity ETFs/ETPs experienced net outflows of US$920 Mn.

YTD through end of April 2014, ETFs/ETPs have seen net inflows of US$68.9 Bn which is less than the US$83.1 Bn of net inflows gathered at this time last year. Equity ETFs/ETPs have gathered the largest net inflows YTD with US$37.4 Bn, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with US$24.5 Bn, while commodity ETFs/ETPs have experienced net outflows of US$1.2 Bn YTD.

In April 2014, iShares gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows with US$10.7 Bn, followed by Vanguard with US$6.2 Bn in net inflows, and SPDR ETFs with US$4.6 Bn in net inflows.

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Flows into ETFs and ETPs listed globally rebounded in February gathering net inflows of US$29.0 billion which, when combined with the positive market performance in the month, pushed assets in the global ETF/ETP industry to a new record high of US$2.44 trillion, according to preliminary findings from ETFGI’s February Global ETF and ETP industry insights report.

The Global ETF/ETP industry has 5,183 ETFs/ETPs, with 10,210 listings, from 219 providers on 59 exchanges.

“Positive comments from the Fed indicating that the US economy continues to brighten, the S&P 500 ending February with a record close of 1859 and signs of a wider global recovery in equities seems to have caused investors to come out of their winter hibernation after the winter storms and put net inflows of US$29.0 billion into ETFs/ETPs in February.” according to Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner at ETFGI.

Dissecting the overall net inflows we find that fixed income ETFs/ETPs gathered US$16.8 Bn – the largest net inflows – followed by equity ETFs/ETPs with US$10.2 Bn. Commodity ETFs/ETPs saw net inflows of US$870 Mn.

The competition to gather assets remains high. The top 100 ETFs/ETPs – less than 2% of the 5,183 ETFs/ETPs – account for more than half (57%) of global assets. Only 7% of ETFs/ETPs hold more than US$1 Bn in assets, while 69% have less than US$100 Mn in assets, 59% have less than US$50 Mn in assets and nearly a third of all products have less than US$10 Mn in assets.

In the first two months of 2014 Vanguard has gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows with US$9.4 Bn, followed by iShares with US$7.1 Bn, Nomura AM with US$4.2 Bn, First Trust with US$2.5 Bn and Guggenheim with US$2.0 Bn in net inflows.

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“Concerns about economic uncertainty and unrest in emerging markets, a fear that US stocks are over bought and uncertainty over the impact of Fed tapering caused investors to take net outflows of US$7.6 billion from ETFs/ETPs in January 2014.” according to Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner at ETFGI.

Equity ETFs/ETPs experienced the largest net outflows with US$11.8 billion, followed by commodity ETFs/ETPs with US$1.9 billion, while fixed income ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows with US$2.9 billion.

Providers

In January Vanguard gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows US$4.8 Bn, followed by Nomura AM with US$2.4 Bn and First Trust with US$1.5 Bn net inflows while SPDR ETFs experienced the largest net ETF/ETP outflows in January with US$16.5 Bn, followed by iShares with US$5.6 Bn.

Index providers

S&P Dow Jones has the largest amount of ETF/ETP assets tracking its benchmarks with US$657.1 Bn, reflecting 28.3% market share; MSCI is second with US$323.6 Bn and 13.9% market share, followed by Barclays with US$197.8 Bn and 8.5% market share.

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