ETF FUM hits $23.6b and products grow

The Australian exchanged traded fund industry (ETF) has hit a new high of $23.6 billion in funds under management (FUM) in August, on the back of increased fund inflows, according to BetaShares.

The fund manager's Australian ETF review also found that the prior month of July recorded modest growth of $220 million (or one per cent) in FUM, which was the previous record.

The growth in the industry was from new monies rather than asset value growth, as the Australian share market had declined in August, while most of the global markets were flat.

During the month, there were $280 million in inflows into the industry, while international equities and fixed income ETFs remained as the most popular investment choices with $140 million and $83 million in inflows respectively.

Product growth remained strong with five new ETFs being launched in August, which took the 2016 new ETF product launch total to 25.

The new ETFs in August included three of BetaShares global sector series funds, (global banks [BNKS]), global agriculture (FOOD), global healthcare (DRUG)), AMP Capital's dynamic markets fund (hedge fund [DMKT]) and Schroders real return fund (GROW).

BetaShares managing director, Alex Vynokur, said Australian investors were demanding ETFs for diversification and that was driving the product growth in the industry.

"We expect to see further product innovation to meet this evolving demand", he said.

Money Management's Investment Centre (MMIC) found that the best performing ETFs for the year were VanEck's S&P/ASX Mid Cap ETF with a 36.79 per cent return, SPDR's S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries with 25.94 per cent and Vanguard's Australian property security index ETF with 25.75 per cent.