The first half of 2012 has seen the strongest inflows into exchange-traded products (ETPs) in a first half in history, according to BlackRock.
ETPs attracted net new assets of more than $100bn during the first half of 2012, increasing assets in global ETPs to $1.68 trillion, according to BlackRock's ETP Landscape Industry Highlights.
The $105 billion increase was a 16 per cent increase on the $90.6 billion seen in the first half of 2011, BlackRock stated.
There was particularly strong demand for exposure to income-producing assets, with the largest portion of inflows seen in fixed income products.
The $42 billion into fixed income ETPs was more than double the $19.6 billion in the first half of 2011 and included $15.5 into investment grade corporate bond ETPs.
Fixed income was followed by developed markets equities ($40.5 billion). Almost three quarters of those flows were into North American equities, with European equities seeing a slight net outflow.
Emerging markets equities accounted for $15 billion of net inflows and commodities $5 billion.
