Assets were down slightly by the end of October from one month earlier
ETFs continue to set new records this year with global net inflows smashing the previous full-year record in just ten months and marking 65 consecutive months of net inflows.
A new report from research and consultancy ETFGI reveals that total net inflows reached US$1.45 trillion year-to-date up to the end of October, surpassing record net inflows of $1.21 trillion recorded during the whole of 2021. That year saw $1.04 trillion during its first ten months.
Recent data from National Bank of Canada revealed that Canadian ETF inflows of $8 billion in October took the total year-to-date to a new record high for annual inflows of $56.6 billion with two months still to go. The previous high was almost $53 billion in 2021 and the 2024 total could reach $70 million.
Read more: Investing in National Bank of Canada Stocks
The ETFGI report shows that gains were seen elsewhere too with October’s global net inflows of $211.4 billion, while assets of $14.41 trillion invested in ETFs by the end of the month were down slightly from the record $14.46 trillion at the end of September.
Equity ETFs were favoured by investors and accounted for $110.59 billion of the net inflows for October and $806.72 billion of the total year-to-date. By comparison, last year, YTD net inflows were $323.59 billion.
Deborah Fuhr, managing partner, founder, and owner of ETFGI, says equity markets have shown unequal performance globally.
“The S&P 500 index decreased by 0.91% in October but is up 20.97% YTD in 2024. The developed markets index excluding the US decreased by 5.22% in October but is up 6.65% YTD in 2024. The emerging markets index decreased by 3.78% during October but is up 14.93% YTD in 2024,” she said.
Fixed income ETFs recorded net inflows of $35.37 billion during October, bringing YTD net inflows to $282.56 billion, while Commodities ETFs saw net inflows of $6.81 billion ($7.89 billion YTD), Active ETFs attracted net inflows of $47.71 billion ($287.87 billion YTD).
The global ETF industry has expanded to 12,994 products, with 25,849 listings, assets of $14.4 trillion, from 791 providers listed on 81 exchanges in 63 countries.
The largest funds by net new inflows in October are dominated by those domiciled in the US: Vanguard S&P 500 ETF ($14.4 billion), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF ($10.5 billion), and iShares China Large-Cap ETF ($5 billion). The top 20 ETFs by net new assets collectively gathered $69.90 billion during October with 13 of them US based.
