Australian ETF industry surpasses LIC market
Total funds under management (FUM) of the Australian exchange traded fund (ETF) industry have significantly surpassed the more stablished listed investment company (LIC) market, reaching a record high of $42.29 billion, according to the BetaShares Australian ETF Review.
Additionally, in September alone, the industry grew 1.6 per cent ($663 million), with net flows for the month standing at $839 million.
International equities attracted $408 million in net flows, which was more than double of the next category, and were followed by broad Australian equities at $184 million. At the same time, fixed income ETFs grew strongly with $154 million in net flows.
Also, the number of ETF products on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) doubled the number of LICs.
According to BetaShares’ managing director, Alex Vynokur, the ETF industry was expected to continue double the size of the LICs within four to five years.
“Given the structural benefits of ETFs to investors, and wide product range, we believe the ETF industry will continue to grow substantially more quickly than the LIC industry going forward,” he said.
“Product development has been significant in September – the number of products launched this month is greater than the total number of products launched in the first six months of this year.
“We expect this trend will not abate for the remainder of 2018, with more products expected before the year’s end.”
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