Exchange traded funds raked in $15.6 billion in fresh
investments last month as bond funds continued to be
asset-gathering leaders. Year-to-date
ETFs
have attracted $154 billion in new assets, putting the industry
on pace to eclipse the 2008 record,
according to Morningstar (NASDAQ:
MORN
). In 2008, ETFs hauled in $168.3 billion in assets.
Bond funds continue to impress. Inflows to the group totaled
$3.8 billion last month and stand at $48 billion, "surpassing any
previous year," Morningstar analyst Michael Rawson said in a
note.
Not surprisingly, the PIMCO Total Return ETF (NYSE:
BOND
), which debuted earlier this year, has been the leader among
bond ETF inflows this year. Colloquially known as the Bill Gross
ETF, BOND raked in $450 in fresh investments last month and is on
pace to top $4 billion in AUM this year, Morningstar noted. BOND
is now the largest actively managed ETF and the second to top $1
billion in AUM. The first was the WisdomTree Emerging Markets
Local Debt Fund (NYSE:
ELD
).
Speaking of emerging markets bond ETFs, the Morningstar data
is supportive of an often discussed topic: Surging
inflows to this asset class
. ETFs tracking emerging markets debt attracted $774 million in
assets last month to bring the year-to-date total to $5.4
billion.
Inflow leaders among
emerging markets bond ETFs this year
are spread across the group and include dollar-denominated funds
such as the PowerShares Emerging Mearkts Sovereign Debt Portfolio
(NYSE:
PCY
), the Market Vectors Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond ETF
(NYSE:
EMLC
) and the iShares Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond Fund
(NYSE:
LEMB
).
Morningstar noted emerging markets ETFs, including funds
ranging from the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (NYSE:
EEM
) to the iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund (NYSE:
FXI
) to the WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (NYSE:
EPI
), were on the receiving end of robust inflows in November. As a
group, diversified emerging markets funds such as EEM attracted
over $1.8 billion in assets last month.
Investors continue to
low volatility ETFs as well
. Morningstar points out the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets
Minimum Volatility Index Fund (NYSE:
EEMV
) attracted $86 million in fresh assets in November. The
PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility (NYSE:
SPLV
), already the largest low volatility equity ETF by assets,
gained $352 million in assets last month.
Among issuers, the big three of iShares, State Street Global
Advisors and Vanguard were the big three in terms of inflows last
month. Year-to-date, iShares ETFs have gained $47.2 billion in
assets, putting the firm just ahead of Vanguard's $46.8 billion
in inflows, according to Morningstar data. State Street Global
Advisors, the second-largest U.S. ETF sponsor in between iShares
and Vanguard, has attracted $23.7 billion in new investments this
year.
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.
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