Introducing Monthly European ETF Flows Data

Following capital flows into and out of ETFs can shed light on current and emerging investment trends

Ben Johnson 13 October, 2010 | 9:57AM
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This is the first in what will be a regular monthly feature on our ETF Centre highlighting Morningstar’s ETF Flows Data for the European market. We pull these estimates of monthly capital flows from Morningstar Direct--a software platform which unites all of our global investment data with tools for highly customised analysis. It is important to note that these are merely estimates of the cash flows entering and leaving these funds, and should not be considered precise figures. This data covers the universe of European exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and not the broader universe of exchange-traded products (ETPs). As such, other ETP structures (with a handful of exceptions) are omitted from this data set, such as most exchange traded commodities (ETCs), most exchange traded notes (ETNs), and other various legal structures that fall under the broader ETP umbrella.

Flows by Broad Category Group
Equity ETFs continued to collect new assets, registering approximately EUR 2.1 billion in inflows for the month of August, bringing year-to-date net inflows into the category to nearly EUR 11.1 billion. Money market ETFs experienced the next-largest level of inflows in August, at EUR 394 million, a sharp reversal of the year-to-date trend which has seen net outflows from money market ETFs at EUR 995 million through the end of August.

Flows by Morningstar ETF Category
Emerging markets equity ETFs continued to experience large inflows in the month of August, attracting about EUR 654 million in new investor capital. This category has experienced the largest net inflow of all Morningstar categories thus far in 2010 with nearly EUR 3 billion in year-to-date net inflows. Precious metals funds also continue to garner new assets and experienced EUR 334 million in net inflows in August. On a year-to-date basis, precious metals funds have proven to be the second most popular category--next to emerging markets--having attracted EUR 2.3 billion in new assets through the end of August. Meanwhile, large capitalisation equity and Euro Government bond ETFs experienced the largest net outflows during the month of August.

Flows by Fund Share Class
Many of the aforementioned trends in ETF flows hold at the individual fund level as well. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETFs combined to have the largest net inflows in the month of August, followed closely by iPath’s “fear index”-tracking ETN (for more on volatility-linked ETPs, please see this article). ETFs tracking large capitalisation equity benchmarks experienced the largest outflows in August, with SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average seeing EUR 502 million walk out the door.

 

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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About Author

Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson  is director of passive funds research at Morningstar.

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