Amundi ETF : Investors allocated €90.7bn to global exchange-traded funds over the summer with in-flows of €44.1bn in July and €46.6bn in August.
Sign up to our free newsletters
Overview
The majority – €85.3bn – were made in the US. Flows were positive in Asia for both months with the region adding €3.9bn in this period. But flows were mixed in Europe with the region adding €2.2bn in July and withdrawing €743m in August. Over the two months, fixed income was the most popular asset class gaining €58.8bn while equities added €41.9bn. Investors withdrew around €12bn from commodities with the bulk of the outflows happening in July when €8bn exited this asset class. Overall, the level of uncertainty regarding the global economy’s outlook remains high, driving investors to a more risk-off mode.
In Europe, investors withdrew €5.3bn from equity ETFs over the two months with the majority of these outflows – €4.4bn – happening in August. In contrast, there were in-flows of €9.5bn into fixed income ETFs with flows fairly evenly split between the two months – €5.1bn in July and €4.4bn in August. Investors also withdrew €2.7bn from commodities.
Equities
There were outflows of €1.4bn from regional equity UCITS ETFs in July which accelerated to €4bn in August. Key outflows were from USA and North American UCITS ETFs which gained €1.3bn in July but saw outflows of €4.3bn in August. This was mainly from indices tracking the S&P 500. Investors also withdrew €1.3bn from Eurozone equities in July and €2bn in August, principally from Eurostoxx 50 indices. World equities gained €3.4bn in August.
There were outflows from both sectors and theme UCITS ETFs as well as smart beta over the summer. Sector and theme UCITS ETFs lost €1.3bn while investors redeemed €2bn from smart beta strategies. Financial UCITS ETFs lost a total of €1.3bn over both months while investors also redeemed €1.8bn from value strategies. Investors mainly reduced their exposure to European and global value strategies.
While there were outflows from other equity UCITS ETFs, ESG ETFs gained €5.5bn in July and €1.5bn in August. US and North America along with global emerging markets were the key regional gains adding €2.9bn and €1.2bn respectively. This was an acceleration in allocations compared with recent months.
Fixed Income
Investors preferred fixed income to equities with corporate debt gaining €5.3bn while government bonds added €4bn. In their search for quality, investors allocated €1.4bn in July and a €1.5bn to Eurozone corporate debt and €2.1bn to US corporate debt strategies. Over the same period, they withdrew €767m from US high yield strategies.
US was the most popular region for government bonds. Over both months, investors allocated €1.6bn to USA mid, €900m to USA broad and €800 to USA long strategies. Investors withdrew €804m from government emerging markets in July but then added €1.3bn to these strategies in August.
Investors withdrew €1.3bn from US inflation-linked strategies as well as €615m from Chinese government debt.
As with equities, investment into fixed income ESG strategies accelerated over the summer with these strategies gaining €5.1bn, with around €2bn allocated to corporate Eurozone strategies. Investors favoured both short and broad maturities.
Source: ETFWorld
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
