Exchange Traded Funds, Products Continue Growing; iShares Stands Top Of The Tree

Tom Burroughes

5 January 2017

Assets invested in actively managed exchange traded funds and products listed globally hit a record of $42 billion at the end of November, while BlackRock's , a firm tracking the sector.

Record levels of assets were also reached at the end of November for active ETFs/ETPs listed in the US at $28.68 billion, in Canada with $5.58 billion, and in Asia-Pacific ex-Japan with $1.92 billion.

At the end of November 2016, the global active ETF/ETP industry had 303 ETFs/ETPs, with 398 listings, assets of $42 billion, from 59 providers listed on 16 exchanges in 12 countries.

BlackRock
The US-listed asset management giant's ETF brand, iShares, led the industry last year, bringing in a record $140 billion in new flows.

Overall, the global ETF industry saw net inflows of $375 billion in 2016, surpassing the previous year’s total of $348 billion.

A new growth record was set in the US with net inflows of $107 billion (2015: $97 billion), while the firm had market-leading net inflows of $32 billion in Europe. iShares was the market share leader in both regions (US: 38 per cent, Europe 61 per cent). Asia-Pacific clients also set a record for iShares ETFs bought during the year, adding over $10 billion, said.

iShares bond ETFs gathered a record $60 billion, capturing 52 per cent of all net inflows into bond ETFs globally. iShares bond ETFs attracted record net inflows in the US ($38 billion) and Europe ($21 billion).

iShares had global assets under management of $1.3 trillion as of 31 December 2016.