Following the trade press in Germany and other European countries, I was quite surprised when I read the headline that net sales in ETFs were down dramatically over the course of the first quarter of 2019. By reading the article, I found out that the numbers the respective analyst was looking at were a comparison of the global ETF flows within the first quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019. Even as the statement of the analyst could be judged generally correct by looking at the numbers, one shouldn’t make these comparisons to simplify or overvalue the findings,

The promoters of ETFs in Europe enjoyed net inflows for March. These inflows led, in combination with a positive performance of the underlying markets, to increased assets under management in the European ETF industry. In more detail, the assets under management in the European ETF industry increased from €707.3 bn as of February 28, 2019, to €725.2 bn at the end of March. The increase of €17.9 bn for March was driven by the performance of the underlying markets (+€12.7 bn), while net sales contributed inflows of €5.2 bn to assets under management in the European ETF segment. With regard

The promoters of ETFs in Europe enjoyed net inflows for January. These inflows led, in combination with a positive performance of the underlying markets, to increased assets under management in the European ETF industry. In more detail, the assets under management in the European ETF industry increased from €633.1 bn as of December 31, 2018, to €675.1 bn at the end of January. The increase of €42.0 bn for January was driven by the performance of the underlying markets (+€34.1 bn), while net sales contributed inflows of €7.9 bn to assets under management in the European ETF segment. With regard

The promoters of ETFs in Europe enjoyed net inflows for November. These inflows led, in combination with a positive performance of the underlying markets, to increased assets under management in the European ETF industry. In more detail, the assets under management in the European ETF industry increased from €657.1 bn as of October 30, 2018, to €666.6 bn at the end of November. The decrease of €9.5 bn for November was driven by the performance of the underlying markets (+€5.5 bn), while net sales contributed inflows of €3.9 bn to assets under management in the European ETF segment. With regard

  The promoters of ETFs in Europe enjoyed net inflows for October. Since the inflows were rather small, they couldn’t offset the negative performance of the underlying markets, which led to decreased assets under management in the European ETF industry. In more detail, the assets under management in the European ETF industry decreased from €679.6 bn as of September 30, 2018, to €657.1 bn at the end of October. The decrease of €22.4 bn for October was driven by the performance of the underlying markets (-€23.2 bn), while net sales contributed inflows of €0.7 bn to assets under management in

The promoters of ETFs in Europe enjoyed net inflows for September. These inflows, in combination with positive performance of the underlying markets, led to increased assets under management in the European ETF industry. In more detail, the assets under management in the European ETF industry increased from €660.5 bn (as of August 31, 2018) to €683.9 bn at the end of September 2018. The increase of €23.4 bn for September was driven by the performance of the underlying markets (+€17.8 bn), while net sales contributed €5.6 bn to the growth in assets under management in the European ETF segment. With

The promoters of ETFs in Europe enjoyed net inflows for August. These inflows led—in spite of a negative market environment—to increasing assets under management in the European ETF industry. In more detail, the assets under management in the European ETF industry increased from €670.1 bn (as of July 31, 2018) to €671.7 bn at the end of August 2018. The increase of €1.7 bn for August was driven by net sales (+€2.3 bn), while the performance of the underlying markets contributed a negative €0.7 bn to the assets under management in the European ETF segment. With regard to the overall

The fund ecosystem in Europe has become accustomed to new all-time highs and exceptional growth rates in the European ETF industry. But, it is not surprising that some market observers are starting to ask whether the trend toward ETFs in Europe is now over, since ETF flows have seemed to be lower over the course of first half 2018. In addition, we have witnessed a number of mergers and acquisitions in the ETF segment over the last 12 months and a slight increase in the number of fund liquidations. Here I will shed more light on the flows, but the

The promoters of ETFs in Europe enjoyed net inflows for April, and the assets under management in the European ETF industry increased, up to €651.9 bn at the end of April. With regard to the overall number of products, it was not surprising that equity funds (€465.7 bn) held the majority of the assets, followed by bond funds (€155.2 bn), commodity products (€20.0 bn), “other” funds (€6.6 bn), money market funds (€3.5 bn), mixed-asset funds (€0.7 bn), and alternative UCITS products (€0.3 bn). Graph 1: Market Share, Assets Under Management in the European ETF Segment by Asset Type, April 30,

Despite the promoters of ETFs in Europe enjoying net inflows for March, the assets under management in the European ETF industry (€628.3 bn) decreased, down from €632.2 bn at the end of February 2018. The decrease of €3.9 bn for March was driven by the performance of the underlying markets (-€4.7 bn), while net sales (+€0.8 bn) contributed positive results to the assets under management in the ETF segment. With regard to the overall number of products, it was not surprising that equity funds (€451.8 bn) held the majority of the assets, followed by bond funds (€146.2 bn), commodity products

European Fund Flow Trends, February 2018 February was the fourteenth consecutive month showing a positive picture for long-term mutual funds. European fund promoters enjoyed net inflows into equity funds (+€16.1 bn), followed by mixed-asset funds (+€14.0 bn), alternative UCITS funds (+€2.6 bn), and bond funds (+€1.2 bn) as well as commodity funds (+€0.9 bn) and real estate funds (+€0.4 bn). Meanwhile, “other” funds (-€0.2 bn) faced net outflows. These fund flows added up to overall net inflows of €35.0 bn into long-term investment funds for February. ETFs contributed €23.1 bn to these inflows. Money Market Products After net inflows of

The European ETF industry enjoyed further increasing popularity with all kinds of investors in 2017. This popularity was seen also in the development of the assets under management; assets held by the European ETF industry increased for a sixth consecutive year and marked a new all-time high at €631.2 bn at the end of December 2017. Graph 1: Assets Under Management in the European ETF Segment (Euro Billions) Source: Lipper With regard to the overall number of products, it was not surprising that equity funds (€448.8 bn) held the majority of the assets, followed by bond funds (€153.3 bn), commodity