Exchange traded products (ETPs) saw inflows of $44.1 billion last month, as investors plumped for passive market exposure.
This was a significant increase on the previous month - when globally the amount invested in ETPs actually fell $5.2 billion.
ETPs is the umbrella term for all exchange traded products - including exchange traded funds (ETFs), exchange traded commodities (ETCs) and exchange traded notes (ETNs).
ETPs are a collective investment traded on a stock exchange like shares. There is an extremely wide range of EPFs available to the investor, who can invest in things as diverse as soy beans, forestry and timber, as well as a FTSE 100 tracker or bonds.
Their low fees make them popular with investors but are not suitable for everyone thanks to an often complex underlying structure.
Equity ETPs were the most popular in July, seeing inflows of $39.3 billion worldwide. Bond investment made up $6.4 billion of sales - an improvement on the following month when $8.4 billion flowed out of fixed interest ETPs.
Gold continued to see outflows however - perhaps thanks to a rise in the gold price triggering investors to collect profits.
Nearly $3 billion was removed from gold ETPs globally in July, following outflows of $4.3 billion the previous month. Year to date, $31 billion has been removed from gold ETPs.
BlackRock, who pooled the date, said the shift in market sentiment was influenced by comments from Ben Bernanke on July 10.
The S&P 500 reached a new all-time high of 1696 in July and finished the month at 1686.