Despite dwindling investor confidence, the Australian exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry still reached a new all-time high of $142.6 billion in funds under management (FUM).
The industry’s 2 per cent month-on-month FUM growth represented a total monthly market cap increase of $2.8 billion since February’s $139.7 billion FUM, BetaShares found.
Its monthly ETF review recorded $0.7 billion in investor flows, making up a quarter of the monthly gains.
March’s growth was largely supported by asset value appreciation, the strong rise in global stock markets and continued investor flows.
The ASX ETF trading value rose strongly to $11.1 billion and was 23 per cent higher than in February, the highest record for the last 12 months.
The industry overall continued to grow at a mild pace, seeing 5.3 per cent year-on-year growth, or $7.2 billion.
Fixed income saw the highest level of net flows during March and in the year to date at $350 million. As seen the previous month, broad Australian equities remained popular amongst investors, with $338.6 million in flows.
When looking at category outflows, BetaShares noted $136 million in outflows from global equities exposures.
“This marks a very striking change to previous years, with international equities flows being exceptionally light in the year to date, with investors continuing to take a cautious stance towards equities more generally in preference to fixed income and cash exposures,” said Ilan Israelstam, BetaShares’ chief commercial officer.
Moreover, BetaShares’ Australian Shares ETF (ASX: A200) entered the top 10 largest products for the first time, following a slash in management fees to 0.04 per cent per annum.
Two new active ETFs launched this month, with Janus Henderson releasing an ESG-oriented credit strategy and Intelligent Investor’s Value Share Fund.
