The Australian exchange traded industry (ETF) has finished the first quarter of the year at a new record high of $46.1 billion in funds under management (FUM), with Australian exposures attracting the highest level of inflows due to investors returning home, according to the BetaShares Australian ETF Review, March 2019.
Australian exposures received inflows of around $400 million in March, with a split of $250 million going into Australian equities and with $150 million flowing into Australian fixed income products.
At the same time, international equities recorded approximately $190 million of inflows, the study found.
Most of the industry’s growth (around of 60 per cent which equalled to $760 million) came from new money as markets continued to rebound after sharp drops in the last month of 2018.
As investors remained concerned over the state of the European economy and the fallout from Brexit, European equities products saw the highest level of outflows.
BetaShares’ managing director, Alex Vynokur, said: “Of particular interest have been the strong flows into Australian fixed income ETFs in the first three months of the year, reflecting a desire by investors to diversify their portfolios at a time when many maintain cautious outlooks on the prospects for global share markets.
“Our view is that the industry looks set to continue its strong momentum into the second quarter, and for the remainder of the year”.
