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All time monthly growth record smashed!
- The Australian ETF industry continued its strong growth in the early months of 2019, reaching a fresh record high and recording its largest ever monthly FuM increase
- The industry ended February at a record $44.8B, with market cap increasing by 5.4% (+$2.3B). The monthly growth figure of $2.3B eclipses the previous record of $2B of FuM growth achieved in November 2017
- With markets rebounding, the industry growth this month came primarily from price increases, which accounted for ~80% of the monthly result – the remaining ~20% being due to net inflows of ~$524m
- International equities were once again the category with the greatest level of inflows, followed by Australian Bonds and Cash
- From a performance perspective, given the tremendous rebound in their equity market, Chinese exposures performed most strongly
- Net outflows at a category level were limited, and relegated to small amounts of profit taking in gold exposures.
Market cap
- ASX Exchange Traded Funds Market Cap: $44.8B
- Market cap increase for month: 5.4%, +$2,300M – Largest increase on record
- Market cap growth for last 12 months: 21%, + $7.9B
Comment: The Industry’s market cap continued its recovery from January, growing by a record $2.3B (+5.4%) in February, exceeding its previous record of $2B monthly growth achieved in November 2017.
New money
- New unit growth for year (units outstanding by number): +1.5%
- Net new money for month (units outstanding by $ value): +$524.7M
Products
- 242 Exchange Traded Products trading on the ASX – no new products launched, 4 products matured
Trading value
- Trading value increased 24% for the month
Comment: As asset prices rose in February, so too did market sentiment, contributing to a 24% increase in trading value by ETF investors.
Performance
- Top performing products this month were Chinese equities exposures, followed by Palladium
Top 5 category inflows (by $) – February 2019
| Category | Inflow Value | |
| International Equities | $ 211,844,216 | |
| Fixed Income | $ 151,039,378 | |
| Cash | $40,696,744 | |
| Australian Equities | $ 37,492,207 | |
| Short | $ 36,889,060 | |
Comment: International Equities and Fixed Income continued to take up the largest portion of inflows in February, repeating the trend we saw across much of 2018.
Top category outflows (by $) – February 2019
| Category | Outflow Value | |
| Commodities | ($3,284,658) |
Top sub-category inflows (by $) – February 2019
| Sub-Category | Inflow Value | |
| International Equities – Developed World | $ 136,479,518 | |
| Australian Bonds | $ 120,786,563 | |
| Cash | $ 40,696,744 | |
| Australian Listed Property | $ 32,868,100 | |
| Global Bonds | $ 30,252,814 | |
Comments: Even though markets continued to rally during the month, ETF investors maintained a relatively cautious stance, investing relatively heavily in Australian and Global Bonds and Cash, along with global equities exposures.
Top sub-category outflows (by $) – February 2019
| Sub-Category | Outflow Value | |
| Australian Equities – Resources Sector | ($6,158,005) | |
| Australian Equities – Geared | ($4,140,653) | |
| Gold | ($3,590,110) | |
| Australian Equities – Large Cap | ($2,343,606) | |
| International Equities – Geared | ($1,555,900) | |