With inflows to U.S.-listed exchange-traded products
on pace for a record year
, another interesting, but related story is developing.
Vanguard's three-year reign as the top gatherer of ETF assets
is in danger. BlackRock's (NYSE:
BLK
) iShares unit, the world's largest ETF sponsor, holds a slight
lead over Vanguard with just a few trading days left in 2012,
according to InvestmentNews
. Citing Morningstar data, InvestmentNews reports iShares
attracted $47.2 billion in ETF inflows through the first 11
months of the year compared to $46.8 billion for Vanguard.
There are plenty of theories to go around as to why iShares
may capture the 2012 crown of top ETF asset gatherer. An
oft-cited reason for the recent, albeit slight, lead established
by iShares is decision by Vanguard to
drop MSCI (NYSE:
MSCI
) indexes on 22 of its
ETFs
.
That announcement was made in early October and Vanguard has
since said it expected some asset leakage from ETFs such as the
Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSE:
VWO
) as investors wait to see how the Vanguard ETFs look with their
new indexes.
Another logical reason is the introduction of new ETFs. As in
Vanguard, the third-largest U.S. ETF sponsor, has only introduced
one new ETF this year, the Vanguard Short-Term
Inflation-Protected Securities ETF (NYSE:
VTIP
). Conversely, iShares has been one of the most prolific issuers
of new ETFs in 2012.
Some of those new funds have proven immediately successful in
terms of attracting assets. For example, the iShares Emerging
Markets High Yield Bond Fund (NYSE:
EMHY
) debuted in early April and now has almost $198 million in
assets under management. The iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets
ETF (NYSE:
IEMG
), which debuted in October as a lower-cost alternative to VWO
and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (NYSE:
EEM
), has already raked in $142.4 million in AUM.
iShares has also benefited from soaring inflows to some of its
previously existing products such as the iShares MSCI USA Minimum
Volatility Index Fund (NYSE:
USMV
), the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Minimum Volatility Index
Fund (NYSE:
EEMV
) and the iShares High Dividend Equity Fund (NYSE:
HDV
), all of which have far higher AUM totals today compared with a
year ago.
Then again, perhaps it is worth noting that the rivalry
between iShares and Vanguard
is arguably overstated
. At least sometimes it is because when it comes to total assets
under management, the gap between the two firms is about $311
billion,
according to Index Universe data
.
Said another way the asset gap between iShares and Vanguard
larger than Greece's 2011 GDP. Of course, it should be forgotten
that State Street's (NYSE:
STT
) State Street Global Advisors unit sits in the number two
position among U.S. ETF sponsors. SSgA has almost $328.7 billion
in AUM compared to nearly $244.5 billion for Vanguard. That asset
gap of $84.2 billion is more than double the size of Costa Rica's
2011 GDP.
For more ETF inflows, click
here
.
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