Assets in exchange-traded products globally reached a record high at the end of the first quarter (Q1) with European equities taking the biggest portion of flows.
However, Europe-based ETPs lagged inflows to funds in the US and Asia.
Total assets globally stood at $2.9 trillion (€2.7 trillion) at the end of Q1, following net flows of $96 billion, which was also a record.
The bulk of the assets were found in the US, which reached $2.09 trillion, while Asia Pacific ex-Japan, and then Japan, followed, according to research firm ETFGI.
Q1 net flows were two and a half times the Q1 2014 figure and net new assets for products listed in the US more than tripled compared to the same period last year.
Though asset flows into Europe-based funds are lower than other main regions, they still more than doubled the Q1 figure last year.
Deborah Fuhr, managing partner of ETFGI, says: “With the ECB [European Central Bank] beginning QE [quantitative easing] investors have allocated the majority of net new assets to European equities.”
Equity ETPs gathered the largest net inflows for the year to date with $49.3 billion, followed by fixed income ETPs with $31.4 billion. Commodity inflows were only $6.7 billion.
iShares gathered the largest net ETP inflows for the year to date, with $38.8 billion, followed by Vanguard and WisdomTree.
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