The month of October was a positive one for Europe’s ETF industry as all asset classes received positive net flows for the period, according to a recent report by Lyxor.
Fixed income ETFs continued to have a strong 2019, pulling in a modest €2.7bn however, it was equity ETFs which drove the most amount of inflows with some €5.3bn.
Just behind fixed income ETF flows was ESG which managed to attract €1.9bn in new assets, a record month for the factor. This followed on from a strong Q3 and bolstered its year-to-date flows to €11.7bn, pulling away from previous years by a significant margin.
ESG ETFs YTD Flows
Source: Lyxor
More broadly, smart beta saw inflows of €492m albeit weaker than previous months. Nonetheless, YTD flows steadied at €6.8bn.
With equity and fixed income ETFs netting €7.7bn and €43bn YTD, respectively, European ETFs have enjoyed a total of €70.3bn in new assets.
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In tandem with the UK’s Brexit discussion and postponements with European Union, ETFs exposed to the country managed to gain more flows, with €2.3bn, than their US counterparts, with a muted €52m.
Despite equity gaining significant inflows, commodity ETFs maintained their momentum by seeing the fourth consecutive month of inflows with €229m. Gold unsurprisingly was the biggest contributor for commodity ETFs, capturing roughly €210m of the month’s flows.
