ETFGI Reports ETFs And ETPs Listed Globally Gathered Net Inflows Of US$20.44 Billion During March 2020

ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETFs and ETPs ecosystem, reported today that ETFs and ETPs listed globally gathered net inflows of US$20.44 billion during March, bringing year-to-date net inflows to US$119.13 billion which is higher than the US$99.06 billion gathered at this point last year. Assets invested in the global ETFs/ETPs industry have decreased by 11.1%, from US$6.04 trillion at the end of February 2020, to US$5.37 trillion at the end of March, according to ETFGI's March 2020 Global ETFs and ETPs industry landscape insights report, an annual paid-for research subscription service. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted.)

Highlights

• Happy 30th Anniversary to the ETF Industry
• ETFs and ETPs listed globally gathered net inflows of US$20.44 billion during March
• Year-to-date net inflows of $119.13 billion are the 3rd highest when compared with year-to-date inflows by this point of time in previous years.
• Assets of $5.37 trillion invested in the Global ETFs/ETPs industry at the end of March are the 2ndhighest for this month in previous years.

The global ETFs industry celebrated its 30thanniversary on March 9, 2020 – 30 years since the listing of the first successful ETF – the Toronto Stock Exchange listed the Toronto 35 Index Participation Fund, known as TIPs. That ETF still exists today and is now known as the iShares S&P/TSX 60 index ETF XIU with assets of C$7.81billon, now owned by BlackRock. The first successful ETF launch in the US, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ticker SPY, was nearly 3 years later on January 22, 1993 by State Street Global Advisors. SPY is the world’s largest ETF with $252.54 billion in assets under management.  

“At the end of March, the S&P 500 was down 12.35% as the pandemic (Covid-19) forced US government to take strict measures and set some form of lockdown around the states reinforcing the fear for deep recession and high unemployment. Outside the U.S., the S&P Developed ex-U.S. BMI plummeted nearly 14.29%.  The S&P Emerging BMI dove 16.97% during the month and Global equities as measured by the S&P Global BMI plunged 14.32% as well.” According to Deborah Fuhr, managing partner, founder and owner of ETFGI.

Global ETF and ETP assets as of the end of March 2020

At the end of March 2020, the Global ETFs/ETPs industry had 7,996 ETFs/ETPs, with 16,031 listings from 450 providers on 72 exchanges in 58 countries. 

ETFs/ETPs listed globally gathered net inflows of $20.44 billion during March. Equity ETFs/ETPs listed globally gathered net inflows of $31.02 billion, bringing net inflows for 2020 to $69.00 billion, greater than the $36.16 billion in net inflows equity products had attracted by the end of March 2019.  Fixed income ETFs/ETPs listed globally reported net outflows of $26.88 billion during March, bringing net inflows for 2020 to $9.01 billion, lower than the $56.28 billion in net inflows fixed income products had attracted by the end of March 2019.  Commodity ETFs/ETPs reported $10.46 billion in net inflows bringing net inflows for 2020 to $19.99 billion, which is greater than the $864 million in net inflows gathered at this point in 2019.

Substantial inflows can be attributed to the top 20 ETFs by net new assets, which collectively gathered $79.82 billion at the end of March, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY US) gathered $13.10 billion alone.

Top 20 ETFs by net new inflows March 2020: Global

Top 10 ETPs by net new inflows March 2020: Global

Investors have tended to invest in Equity, Gold and short term fixed income ETFs in March.