US$12bn net flows - ETF Flow Watch - March 2017 Results

In March, worldwide ETFs continued to rise with US$68 billion in net flows, a slight increase of US$3 billion from the previous month. Equity ETFs led with a US$52 billion in net new money, followed by bond and commodity (mostly gold ETFs) accumulating US$12 billion and US$4 billion, respectively. ETFs assets set a new record and stood at nearly US$3.9 trillion globally.

In the U.S., equity ETFs garnered US$36 billion of net flows pushed by Equity US – Large Cap and Equity Global – Large Cap, totaling a combined US$25 billion for the month. Bond products gained US$8 billion, mainly driven by nearly US$6 billion of net flows into Bond North America. Commodity (mostly gold products), however, saw less than US$1 billion in net flows.

ETFs in Europe recorded US$12 billion of net flows in March, matching the previous month’s result. ETFs in Asia, however, attracted US$10 billion in net new money, an increase of US$4 billion from February’s total flows. Equity- Japan, the best-selling category, led with nearly US$10 billion of net flows in Asia.

In March, eight of the top 10 largest new ETFs launches were leveraged or inversed ETFs managed by China AMC and CSOP Asset Management (a joint venture between China Southern and Asset Management and OP Financial Investments Ltd.) The eight ETFs together totaled nearly US$380 million in net flows in March, and are based in Hong Kong.