International equities reclaim ETF inflows throne

Exchange traded fund (ETF) inflows in international equities have returned with a vengeance after a dip in March to reflect strong market performance, according to Betashares’ monthly Australian ETF review.

International equities ETFs took a hit in March amid global market volatility, recording $815 million in inflows – third to Australian equities ETFs’ $1 billion. However, the asset class managed to regain its lead last seen in February ($1.5 billion compared to Australian equities’ $722 million), recording $2.1 billion in inflows in April and Australian equities falling back to second with $1.6 billion.

The Betashares report also said a combination of “very strong inflows to ETFs” and “positive market performance” helped the Australian ETF industry reach $258.9 billion in funds under management (FUM), a 3.43 per cent or $8.6 billion increase from the previous month.

“Industry inflows for the month were just shy of the record set in January at $4.46B, as investors continued to allocate to their portfolios amid ongoing market volatility,” the report said.

“ASX trading value hit $22B in April – another record high. This comes as investors continued to rebalance their portfolios and take advantage of buying opportunities.”

According to the review, the Australian ETF industry has also recorded 32.8 per cent or $63.96 billion in growth over the last 12-month period, with 418 exchange traded products (ETPs) now trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and CBOE.

ETF’s trading value on the ASX also reached a new record high of $22 billion during the month of April, a 16 per cent increase from the previous month.

The report also revealed the top four highest-performing funds for the month were all related to cryptocurrency:

• Monochrome Bitcoin ETF at 13.32 per cent
• Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF at 11.86 per cent
• Betashares Bitcoin ETF at 11.15 per cent
• VanEck Bitcoin ETF at 10.45 per cent

The report also confirmed that, measuring year-to-date 2025 flows by issuer, the top four issuers still maintain a combined 84.23 per cent market share between Vanguard, Betashares, iShares and VanEck.