As global share markets continued to fall in September, the Australian exchange traded fund industry once again experienced positive net inflows, according to BetaShares Australian ETF Review – September 2015.
Notwithstanding another month of market declines, structural growth of the industry continued with inflows of $437 million recorded for the month.
Overall, the industry ended the month at $19.2 billion in funds under management; increasing slightly on the $19 billion recorded in August, but still below the record high $19.7 billion recorded in July this year.
Average trading value remained high at ~$1.8 billion, despite it decreasing from the record high of $2.3 billion recorded in August.
Australian equities across both broad exposures and the high yield category were the dominant product categories for inflows.
The best performance came from soft commodities products, as well as the BetaShares Australian Equities Strong Bear Hedge Fund (ASX: BBOZ) which rallied as the Australian share market fell.
Alex Vynokur, Managing Director of BetaShares said: “Global market volatility was not enough to dampen the appetite for exchange traded products in September. The positive net inflows means Australian investors are increasingly using these products to mitigate against falling markets, in addition to taking advantage of rising markets.
“There was again strong appetite for our Bear Funds throughout the month, as investors sought a simple way to protect against falls in Australian and US share markets.”
Net outflow activity by category was low throughout September, and solely confined to outflows in commodities.
One new product was launched in September, taking the total number of new products launched this year to 42, compared with 12 new products launched in total in 2014.