Canadian equity ETFs drove high August inflows

Canadian ETFs added $2.8 billion in August in the second-highest month of inflows so far this year, a report from National Bank says.

Equity ETFs attracted the most investment, totalling almost $1.9 billion.

Canadian ETFs, led by the iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF’s inflows of $659 million, totalled almost $1.3 billion last month. U.S. equity ETFs added $293 million.

Fixed income ETFs added $835 million in August.

Investors have added $13.8 billion in new ETF assets so far this year, led by equity ETFs, the report says. International developed and emerging market ETFs are selling the fastest in the equity category so far this year.

Of the $4 billion added to bond ETFs this year, new assets are flowing into low-cost aggregate products, preferred shares (mainly actively managed) and foreign or global bond ETFs, the report says.

Ten new ETFs launched in August. The inflows last month brought total ETF assets under management close to $164 billion.

Read the report here.

Equity and fixed income drive U.S. ETF inflows

U.S. ETFs added $24.6 billion in August, a separate National Bank report says.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF led the way with $6.6 billion in inflows last month.

Emerging market ETFs had a positive net inflow despite the currency troubles in Turkey, Iran and Argentina, the report says.

Healthcare sector ETFs had the highest inflows last month while the technology sector was the “top return performer.” Fixed income ETFs added $6.7 billion.

Read the report here.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.