Global, fixed-income ETFs dominate listings
Global and fixed-income exchange-traded funds (ETFs) dominated new ETF listings over the year from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018, according to Stockspot.
Funds under management in the Australian exchange-traded funds (ETF) sector grew 33 per cent to $36.2 billion over the past year, the digital investment adviser said.
Asian share market ETFs performed strongly with 18.9 per cent returns for the year, while Vanguard’s Australian Shares Index ETF experienced the largest FUM growth of 39 per cent, Stockspot said.
BetaShares’ Australian Dividend Harvester Fund was the worst performer by returns and its FUM fell by 51 per cent.
“It’s important to note that investors have flocked to global ETFs for greater diversification,” said Stockspot founder Chris Brycki.
“The fact that Australian shares only represent around 1.7 per cent of the world’s total share market value highlights the need for global shares in a diversified portfolio.
“The growing suite of fixed-income ETFs is filling another diversification gap in many portfolios.”
Stockspot said it would add five additional sector ETFs to its portfolio options to provide exposure to small or underweight sectors of the Australian share market: infrastructure, consumer staples, gold miners, healthcare and technology.
Recommended for you
Two former senior Global X employees have launched their own ETF provider, ETF Shares, focused on offering index ETFs for advisers and retail investors.
With GCQ Funds Management and Lakehouse Capital making their recent ETF debuts, the two fund managers unpack why financial advisers are essential to their respective launches.
ETF provider Global X is set to launch its latest ETF, focused on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Index provider MSCI has unveiled two measures to make it easier for financial advisers and wealth managers to access transparent insights into private assets.
