Exchange-traded products have hit the $10 billion mark in funds under management (FUM), the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has announced.
This is more than double the figure of two years ago, when FUM was $4.9 billion in December 2011.
The growth is due to increased awareness of the product group by both retail and institutional investors, and an increase in product offerings such as international exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which have performed well, SPDR ETFs Australia head Amanda Skelly told Money Management.
"Over the past two years, the number of ETFs available has more than doubled — increasing from 40 to 94," she said.
"Investors can now access all the major types, from Australian and international shares to listed property, commodities and fixed income."
ETPs are also being increasingly adopted by investors, particularly self-managed super fund investors and financial advisers.
The biggest appeal of exchange-traded funds — a subgroup of ETPs — is that they provide a cost-effective access to markets.
"The strong growth in ETPs demonstrates that investors are increasingly looking for investment opportunities that enable them to diversify their portfolios," ASX business development manager Jonathan Morgan said.
Growth in the equity market activity and the recent dip in the Australian dollar have also had a positive effect on ETPs that provide international exposure.
According to the December ASX report ‘Spotlight on ETPs', Australian broad-based ETPs account for the biggest share of FUM at 36.8 per cent, followed by broad-based international ETPs at 31.8 per cent.
Australian broad-based ETP fund inflows stood at $96.03 million, while broad-based international ETPs had fund inflows of $80.8 million.
"Large cap Aussie equities, Aussie REITs and international equities with exposure to US, Europe and Japan did very well," Skelly said.
iShares had the largest FUM at $3.61 billion, followed by StateStreet at $3.27 billion. Vanguard was third at $1.4997 billion.
The commodity sector in the ETP category was the only area that performed weakly. This was due to a 28 per cent drop in gold prices, which fell from $US1675 to $US1205 an ounce during last year.
"Commodities seem to be the most universally unloved asset class, experiencing outflows for most of the year both in Australian and more broadly across the global ETF industry," Skelly said.
