Which ETFs saw the largest inflows and outflows in 2020?
The Australian exchange traded funds (ETFs) industry grew by more than 50% in 2020 to reach $95.2 billion, driven by net inflows of $20.5 billion, but into which funds did the money go?
According to end of year review by BetaShares, investors turned to ETFs for the liquidity and accessibility in volatile conditions which saw the industry rise from $62 billion at the start of the year to $95.2 billion.
It was helped by the conversion of the Magellan Global fund into an open-class structure which added $13 billion to assets.
Net industry inflows were $20.5 billion, which BetaShares said was the highest annual inflows on record and a 59% increase from 2019. The most popular category was international equities followed by Australian equities and fixed income.
The five funds which saw the largest inflows were Vanguard Australian Shares Index, iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF, ETFS Physical Gold, VanEck Vectors MSCI World Ex-Australia Quality ETF and BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF.
Vanguard, BetaShares and iShares received 70% of all total inflows, down from 80% in 2019, which indicated inflows were now spread across a larger number of players.
Fund |
Inflow value |
Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF |
$2,301,441,677 |
iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF |
$1,645,500,810 |
ETFS Physical Gold |
$818,359,794 |
VanEck Vectors MSCI World Ex-Australia Quality ETF |
$570,603,604 |
BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF |
$544,628,406 |
Looking at outflows, investors opted to take money out of funds from a range of categories, although three came from iShares. The five funds that saw the highest outflows were iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond (AUD Hedged) ETF, BetaShares US Dollar ETF, iShares Edge MSCI World Multifactor ETF, iShares Core Cash ETF and iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF.
Fund |
Outflow value |
iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond (AUD Hedged) ETF
|
-$102,593,795
|
USD BetaShares U.S Dollar ETF |
-$75,887,119
|
iShares Edge MSCI World Multifactor ETF |
-$71,346,534 |
iShares Core Cash ETF |
$63,817,108
|
iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF |
-$62,323,600 |
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