Int. equities pushes ETF industry toward AUM record

The recent popularity of international equities among investors has yet again propelled the Australian exchange traded fund (ETF) industry to new highs, ending March just under $200 billion in assets under management (AUM).

According to Betashares’ Australian ETF Review for the month of March, the industry recorded an increase in market capitalisation across the ASX and CBOE of $7.3 billion or 3.9 per cent to $196.7 billion. This has seen the industry grow 37.9 per cent or $54.1 billion in the last 12 months.

Despite there being no new fund launches or closures – a “rare” occurrence according to Betashares – ETFs recorded net monthly inflows of $1.8 billion in March, with 359 exchange traded products (ETPs) trading on the ASX and CBOE in March.

The review also confirmed international equities would continue its “dominance” of net ETF inflows, accounting for approximately 50 per cent of the industry’s net inflows in March ($834 million); this was followed by fixed income at $453 million, urged on by strong performance of Australian floating rate bond products.

Outflows were limited to products in commodities, the review said.

Betashares’ Global Gold Miners ETF – Currency Hedged product was just edged out by VanEck’s Gold Miners ETF in terms of performance, with 0.1 per cent difference in performance (19.3 per cent compared to 19.4 per cent). Cryptocurrency-centric products still enjoyed strong performance after a successful record in February, with Global X’s 21Shares Bitcoin ETF returning 13.2 per cent and Betashares’ Crypto Innovators ETF returning 12.2 per cent.