November 2021 marked the twentieth consecutive month with inflows into ETFs after the outflows caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. These inflows occurred in a volatile but still somewhat positive market environment in which investor sentiment was still impacted by the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economies around the globe and the resulting actions taken by central banks and governments in Europe and other parts of the world. The positive performance of the underlying markets led to increasing assets under management (from €1,276.8 bn as of October 31, 2021, to €1,290.4 bn at

Investors, market observers, and regulators always raise questions about the competitiveness of the European exchange-traded fund industry since the assets under management seem to be concentrated among a few ETF promoters. Generally speaking, I would agree with the statement that one needs to be concerned if a few players are dominating a market, but not with regard to the European ETF industry. Graph 1 depicts the fact that the European ETF industry is highly concentrated at the promoter level since the 10-top promoters in Europe held between 93.07% (June 30, 2016) and 92.78% (June 30, 2020) of the overall assets

As the security markets further recovered from the lockdown-induced downturn caused by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, May was another positive month for the European ETF industry, with ETF promoters enjoying inflows. The combination of below average inflows and the positive performance of underlying markets led to an increase in assets under management from €777.9 bn as of April 30, 2020, to €798.7 bn at the end of May. The increase of €20.8 bn for May was driven by the performance of the underlying markets (+€15.5 bn), while the net inflows contributed €5.3 bn to the increase in assets.

After the markets bounced back from the trough caused by the global lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic, April was another positive month for the European ETF industry since ETF promoters enjoyed inflows. The combination of above average inflows and the positive performance of underlying markets led to an increase in assets under management from €719.1 bn as of March 31, 2020, to €777.9 bn at the end of April. The increase of €58.8 bn for April was driven by the performance of the underlying markets (+€50.1 bn), while the net inflows contributed €8.7 bn to the increase in assets. It

October was another positive month for the European ETF industry, as the promoters of ETFs in Europe enjoyed above average inflows in October. These led, in combination with the positive performance of the underlying markets, to an increase in assets under management in the European ETF industry from €795.6 bn as of September 30, 2019, to a new record high of €809.2 bn at the end of October. The increase of €13.6 bn for October was driven by estimated net inflows (+€11.1 bn), while the performance of the underlying markets contributed €2.6 bn to the increase in assets under management.

After outflows in August, the promoters of ETFs in Europe enjoyed above average inflows in September. These led, in combination with the positive performance of the underlying markets, to an increase in assets under management in the European ETF industry from €757.0 bn as of August 31, 2019, to €795.5 bn at the end of September. The increase of €38.5 bn for September was driven by estimated net inflows (+€19.5 bn), while the performance of the underlying markets contributed €19.1 bn to the increase in assets under management. It was not surprising equity funds (€536.2 bn) held the majority of

The promoters of ETFs in Europe faced in August the first net outflows since February 2016. These led, in combination with the negative performance of the underlying markets, to a decrease in assets under management in the European ETF industry. In more detail, the assets under management in the European ETF industry decreased from €772.8 bn as of July 30, 2019, to €757.0 bn at the end of August. The decrease of €15.9 bn for August was driven by net outflows (-€8.8 bn), while the performance of the underlying markets contributed €7.0 bn to the outflows in assets under management.

The promoters of ETFs in Europe enjoyed net inflows for May. Despite these, the assets under management in the European ETF industry decreased due to the negative performance of the underlying markets. In more detail, the assets under management in the European ETF industry decreased from €746.7 bn as of April 30, 2019, to €721.6 bn at the end of May. The decrease of €25.1 bn for May was driven by the performance of the underlying markets (-€27.4 bn), while net sales contributed inflows of €2.3 bn to assets under management in the European ETF segment. With regard to the

Investors, market observers, and regulators always raise questions about the competitiveness of the European exchange-traded fund industry since the assets under management seem to be concentrated among a few ETF promoters. Generally speaking, I would agree with the statement that one needs to be concerned if a few players are dominating a market, but not with regard to the European ETF industry. The graph below depicts the fact that the European ETF industry is highly concentrated at the promoter level since the 10-top promoters in Europe held 93.22% of the overall assets under management (€725.2 bn) in the European ETF

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 year 2018 was a tough year for the European fund industry. Despite headwinds from the markets and outflows from their actively managed peers, the promoters of ETFs in Europe enjoyed net inflows in every single month of the year 2018. These inflows, however, were not able to offset the negative impact from the underlying markets. As a result, the assets under management in the European ETF industry decreased from €656.8 bn as of December 31, 2017, to €633.1 bn at the end of December 2018. As mentioned above, the decrease of €23.7 bn for 2018 was driven by the