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US ETP assets have hit an all time high of US$678 bn at the end of August 2009 - 4.0% above the previous all time high of US$653 bn set in July 2009, and 11.3% above the high set in April 2008, according to the latest figures from Barclays Global Investors. The US ETP industry had 846 ETPs, net new inflows of US$54.3 Bn YTD with total assets of US$678 bn from 36 providers on 3 exchanges at the end of August 2009. YTD assets have risen by 25.1% which is more than the 13.5% rise in the MSCI US Index in US dollar terms.
Contrasting this to the latest data from Strategic Insight, net inflows to mutual funds (excluding ETPs) domiciled in the US were minus US$50.5 Bn in the first six months of 2009.<./p>
Deborah Fuhr, Global Head of ETF Research & Implementation Strategy at BGI said, "The net inflows of US$54.3 Bn in the past eight months shows demand for ETPs is still growing as clients view ETPs as useful tools to help them implement many types of exposures".
Top 10 ETP providers in the US based on net new assets, as at end August 2009
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Source: ETF Research and Implementation Strategy Team, Barclays Global Investors, Bloomberg, National Stock Exchange (NSX).
Fixed income ETPs have seen the largest net inflows with US$29.5 Bn net new assets YTD. The most popular fixed income exposure has been Corporate bond ETPs with US$8.7 Bn net inflows, followed by inflation linked ETPs with US$6.7 Bn, and ETPs tracking aggregate bond benchmarks with US$4.3 Bn.
Fixed Income US ETP assets by type of exposure, at the end of August 2009
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Source: ETF Research and Implementation Strategy Team, Barclays Global Investors, National Stock Exchange (NSX).
Commodity focused ETPs was the second most popular asset category in terms of net flows, with US$23.8 Bn. Precious metals commodity ETPs grew the most with US$12.9 Bn net new assets, followed by energy ETPs with US$5.0 Bn and broad commodity exposures with US$3.7 Bn.
Commodity US ETP assets by type of exposure, at the end of August 2009
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Source: ETF Research and Implementation Strategy Team, Barclays Global Investors, National Stock Exchange (NSX).
Emerging markets equity ETPs was the third most popular asset category with US$12.9 Bn net inflows. Broad emerging market equity exposures saw net inflows of US$6.1 Bn YTD, followed by Brazil focused ETPs with US$2.2 Bn, and ETPs tracking Chinese benchmarks with US$1.3 Bn net new assets.
Emerging Market US ETPs net new assets YTD by type of exposure, at the end of August 2009
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Source: ETF Research and Implementation Strategy Team, Barclays Global Investors, National Stock Exchange (NSX).
US ETP asset growth, as at end August 2009
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Source: ETF Research and Implementation Strategy Team, Barclays Global Investors, Bloomberg .
US ETP assets by type of exposure, at the end of August 2009
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Source: ETF Research and Implementation Strategy Team, Barclays Global Investors, Bloomberg, National Stock Exchange (NSX).
Background
ETF Landscape - Industry Review is BGI's comprehensive monthly market commentary, which covers Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) across the globe. ETFs are open-end index funds that provide daily portfolio transparency, are listed and traded on exchanges like stocks on a secondary basis as well as utilising a unique creation and redemption process for primary transactions. ETPs are products that have similarities to ETFs in the way they trade and settle but they do not use a mutual fund structure. The use of other structures including grantor trusts, partnerships, notes and commodity pools by ETPs can create different tax and regulatory implications for investors when compared to ETFs which are funds. This document includes rankings of ETF and ETP providers, ETFs, index providers and exchanges globally, in the United States, Europe, Japan, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, as well as by country. This commentary should not be regarded as a research report.
In the United States the term ETFs is increasingly being used to cover a broad set of products with dissimilar characteristics from those described above including products such as closed-end funds, HOLDRS and notes. These product structures do not fall within the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) definition of an ETF, which is posted on the Internet: "Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are investment companies that are legally classified as open-end companies or Unit Investment Trusts (UITs), but that differ from traditional open-end companies and UITs in several respects": These differences can be found at: www.sec.gov/answers/etf.htm
Barclays Global Investors is one of the world's largest asset managers and a leading global provider of investment management products and services with more than 2,900 institutional clients and US$1.7 trillion of assets under management as of 30 June 2009. BGI transformed the investment industry by creating the first index strategy in 1971 and the first quantitative active strategy in 1979. BGI is the global product leader in exchange traded funds (iShares) with over 380 funds globally across equities, fixed income and commodities which trade on 16 exchanges worldwide. iShares customer base consists of the institutional segment of pension plans and fund managers, as well as the retail segment of financial advisors and high net worth individuals.
