The largest ETFs driving growth to $100b



As the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) industry passes $100 billion in assets under management, which funds have the largest market caps and how have they performed?
According to BetaShares, the ETF industry now stood at $102.9 billion after adding $8 billion in the first quarter of 2021. It forecast the industry to grow a further 25% this year.
The three largest ETFs were Magellan Global at $13.1 billion, Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF at $7.4 billion and BlackRock iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 at $4.3 billion.
Over one year to 12 April, 2021, Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF had returned 34.5%, the BlackRock fund returned 32% but Magellan returned just 5.7%.
Performance of three funds over one year to 12 April 2021
However, over a longer time period of five years to 12 April, Magellan was the winner with returns of 86.7% compared to returns of around 70% for the other two funds.
Performance of three funds over five years to 12 April 2021
Alex Vynokur, chief executive of BetaShares, said: “The Australian ETF industry has emerged from a year of uncertainty in a strong position. While we have recently seen some retail traders overseas caught up in speculative activity in particularly volatile stocks, investors more broadly continue to recognise the benefits of ETFs in establishing a resilient long-term portfolio. We are excited to see what the rest of 2021 brings”.
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