Asset manager, BlackRock has reported that 2015 exchange-traded product (ETP) flows are off to the “best start ever”, in its latest ETP Landscape report.
The BlackRock report finds that global ETP flows accelerated in February, representing the fourth best month on record at $50 billion (€69.3 billion).
This lifted the year-to-date total to $62.3 billion, with investors showing a preference for non-US equity and corporate bonds over other “safer” categories.
Pan-European equity brought in a new monthly high of $8.9 billion, with year to-date flows already surpassing last year’s peak, helped by the European Central Bank bond purchase announcement and a weakening euro.
Fixed income flows were boosted to $17.8 billion, driven by a new monthly record of $5.2 billion for high yield corporate bonds, as investors’ search for yield persisted.
Commodity funds added inflows of $3.5 billion, meaning they have brought in over $10 billion across the past three months. Crude oil funds benefited with inflows of $1.7 billion as oil prices stabilised and gold drew in $1.1 billion.
In emerging market equity funds, a five-month trend of outflows turned around as the asset class gathered $2.7 billion. This rebound was influenced by the various central bank monetary policies and the fall in oil prices, with China equities showing especially strong inflows of $1.6 billion.
US equity ETP flows recovered after heavy outflows in January, though they remained weak compared to other exposures at $3.9 billion.
©2015 funds europe
