The Australian exchange traded fund (ETF) industry grew by $6.3 billion in August to end the month at $125 billion.
According to the latest BetaShares monthly report, the “very fast” growth was the result of strong inflows, market appreciation and the conversion of an unlisted global equities fund by Magellan into an active ETF.
Net inflows were $2.4 billion and there was over $9 billion of trading activity recorded on the Australian Securities Exchange during the month.
Three new vehicles were launched, two active ETFs from Magellan and VanEck and one focused on semiconductors from ETF Securities while 360 Capital closed its Active Value ETF.
Equities remained the most popular asset class, representing around 85% of total flows and focused mostly on international equities which gained $1.4 billion of assets. Australian equities gained $544 million over the same period.
The Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF was particularly popular and saw inflows of $255 million during the month, followed by Vanguard Australian Shares which saw monthly inflow of $248 million and Hyperion Global Growth Companies which gained $142 million.
Over the last 12 months, the industry had grown by $54.4 billion, some 76.9%.
