Facts, Facts and More Facts: ETF May 2012 Wrap-up

ETF assets declined by 3.2% during the month of May, driven largely by market effect and amplified by net redemptions of $150 million. While May’s inflows were negative, the three-month tally for ETF net creations remains significant at $2.4 billion, or nearly 5% as a percentage of beginning assets. On a year-to-date basis, the ETF assetbase has expanded by more than 10%, compared to 2.5% for long-term mutual funds excluding ETFs.

There were several bright spots in terms of sales. Fixed income and multi-asset class ETFs brought in a combined $176 million. Equity ETFs suffered $265 million in net redemptions, though this was driven primarily by iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index Fund (XIU). Excluding XIU, equity ETFs posted net creations of $269 million. The three-month perspective reveals a more balanced asset class picture with fixed income ETFs only slightly outpacing the equity mandates (by $37 million). For more, please see the upcoming issue of the ETF and Index Funds Report http://investoreconomics.com/issue/insight-etf-and-index-funds-report. Posted by Sandeep Gosal, Sandeep@iei.ca.