National Bank has published its latest Canadian ETF flows report
Demand for passive US equity exposure was a key driver of Canadian ETF flows in August.
Monthly analysis from National Bank of Canada reveals $4.2 billion in overall creations last month, bringing the year-to-date total to $43 billion.
In August, US equities posted net inflows of $1.9 billion ($12,980 year-to-date) with international equities gaining $744 million. Canadian equity ETFs posted net outflows of just over $1 billion. Overall, equities have posted year-to-date inflows of $23.4 billion.
During the first week of August “inflows into US equity ETFs were at their highest, just as the S&P 500 was selling off sharply following some weak jobs numbers,” the report states. “This can happen if investors are selling individual stocks and then moving the proceeds into passive ETFs to equitize their positions, showing once again that ETFs can act as stabilization valves during a rough market downturn.”
Fixed income ETFs added $1.1 billion and commodities bounced back with a record $576 million in creations, helped by a record high for gold bullion. Fixed income has seen year-to-date inflows of $15 billion.
Crypto-asset ETFs had inflows of $102 million, split between Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. Year to date, Crypto-asset ETFs have suffered a dip in demand in Canada, witnessing $432 million of outflows, partly due to high-profile launches in the US.
There were 24 new Canadian ETFs launched in August with covered call a key theme and accounting for most of the new funds.
The report shows that the top three providers by market share were RBC iShares (27.6%) , BMO (23.1%), and Vanguard (14.1%).
