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JANUARY 2021: AND WE’RE OFF!
And we’re off! The starter’s gun has been fired and 2021 is well underway. Here at BetaShares, we’re looking forward to seeing what the year will bring for the Australian ETF industry after what can only be described as a truly massive 2020. High flows pushed the Australian ETF industry to a new record high of $96.8B in January. Read on for more details, including best performers, asset flow categories and more.
Australian ETP Market Cap: July 2001 – January 2021
Source: ASX, Chi-X, BetaShares.
Market cap
- ASX Exchange Traded Product market cap: $96.8B1 – all-time end of month high
- Market cap change for month: +1.7%, +$1.6B
- Market cap growth for the last 12 months: +47%, + $30.8B
Comment: The high level of flows pushed the industry to $96.8B, another fresh record high. Industry growth over the last 12 months has been 47%, representing absolute growth of $30.8B over this period.
1. Includes total FuM for ETFs trading on both ASX and Chi-X
New money
- Net new money for month (units outstanding by % value): +$1.6B
Comment: As was the case for much of 2020, 100% of the growth this month was derived from net new money into the industry, with the global and Australian markets themselves rising only modestly.
Products
- 256 Exchange Traded Products trading on the ASX and Chi-X with no new product launches or closures.
Comment: No new products launched in January, but we are aware of a number in the pipeline for the remainder of the quarter.
Trading value
- ASX ETF trading value down ~15% vs. the previous month.
Comment: Trading value dropped 15% month on month, which is unsurprising given the quiet time of the year and also the focus of a number of active traders on “Gamestonks”.
Performance
- Asian markets continued to perform in January, with the Asia Technology Tigers ETF leading the way at 9.1%. We also saw Crude Oil perform strongly with OPEC announcing production cuts in the early part of the month. As such our Crude Oil Index ETF – Currency Hedged (synthetic) jumped 7.3% in January.
Top 5 category inflows (by $) – January 2021
| Category | Inflow Value | |
| International Equities | $867,393,445 | |
| Australian Equities | $315,475,612 | |
| Fixed Income | $239,392,841 | |
| Multi-Asset | $116,577,387 | |
| Commodities | $31,041,319 | |
Comment: Equities were again the focus of the month, as was the case throughout much of 2020, with international equities once again being the most actively invested sector of the market ($870m of net flows). Outflows were limited, with no net outflows at a broad product level and rather specific outflows from Australian resources exposures as well as Crude Oil, with investors potentially taking profits as that commodity rose strongly over the month.
Source: Bloomberg, BetaShares.
Source: Bloomberg, BetaShares.
Top sub-category inflows (by $) – January 2021
| Sub-Category | Inflow Value | |
| International Equities – Developed World | $254,031,582 | |
| Australian Equities – Broad | $232,728,535 | |
| International Equities – Sector | $194,625,654 | |
| Australian Bonds | $180,562,797 | |
| International Equities – US | $174,838,417 | |
Top sub-category outflows (by $) – January 2021
| Category | Outflow Value | |
| Australian Equities – Sector | ($15,189,633) | |
| Oil | ($11,949,224) | |
| Silver | ($1,575,275) | |
Why the surge in International equities in November 2020?
Hi Philip,
The large inflows to international equities in November of 2020 was due to the large conversion event by Magellan which immediately added ~$13B to the industry.
Sincerely,
BetaShares Client Services
I’d like some comments on ESG next time please.
Many Thanks
Hi John,
Thanks for the feedback. Will keep this in mind for future reviews as and when it is relevant.
Sincerely,
BetaShares Client Services