ETFs see positive flows after two months of decline
Inflows to exchange traded funds (ETFs) have returned in March after two months of negative flows, according to BetaShares, seeing net inflows of $1.3 billion during the month.
The industry grew 4.1% month-on-month and ended March with assets of $135.4 billion.
Monthly inflows were $1.3 billion, slightly below the 12-month average of $1.8 billion, but higher than flows during January and February.
“While this is significantly more than very anaemic flows of February ($212m) the inflow figure is still relatively low compared to average net flow figures over the last 12 months, indicating that investor caution is still very much present,” the firm said.
International equity ETFs saw the highest level of inflows at $714 million followed by Australian equities at $379 million. On an individual fund basis, Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF saw the most individual flows at $296 million followed by Vanguard Global Value Equity Active ETF at $161 million.
The largest outflows came from BetaShares Australian High Interest Cash ETF at $420 million with cash funds seeing the largest sector outflows at $478 million.
The best ETF performance came from the BetaShares Geared Australian Shares fund which returned 15.9% during the month.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
In the latest Meet the Manager profile, Money Management speaks with Michael Skinner, founder and managing director at Blackwattle Investment Partners.
Perpetual has seen AUM rise 6 per cent in the last quarter but the departure of a longstanding JOHCM fund manager led to outflows of $2.2 billion from his strategy.
Global fixed income fund Bentham Global Opportunities has been added to several major platforms, enabling it to be accessed more easily by financial advisers.
Following yesterday’s news about First Sentier Investors closing four investment teams, a second global asset manager has announced it is closing its only dedicated Australian fund.
