The Australian exchange traded fund (ETF) industry hit a new all-time high at the end of February, showing a 3.6 per cent year-on-year growth and reaching $26.1 billion in funds under management (FUM), helped by both asset value appreciation and new net money, according to BetaShares’ study.
The ‘Australian ETF Review – February 2017’ also found that US equities and Australian income funds saw the strongest flows.
At the same time, outflows came from broad global equity products as investors isolated the US from the rest of the world for their international equities allocation.
In February, new product development continued and saw the launch of Australia’s tenth active ETF, the Switzer Dividend Growth Fund.
BetaShares’ managing director, Alex Vynokur, said: “The growing demand for Active ETFs in Australia is motivating more local managers to consider either developing exchange-traded versions of their current unlisted products or to launch new active funds in ASX [Australian Securities Exchange]-traded forms, skipping the unlisted form altogether”.
“We expect this trend will only accelerate in the near future, as Australian investors continue to recognise the benefits of convenience, liquidity and accessibility that come with exchange traded funds,” he said.
