Despite global uncertainty, ETFs gather steam

September was another roller coaster ride for investors, but they still allocated US$32 billion in net new assets to ETFs to ETPs listed globally. As such, there have been 20 straight months of positive net inflows for the funds, says new data from ETFGI.

In the first three quarters of 2015, adds ETFGI, record levels of net new assets have been gathered by ETFs and ETPs listed globally, with net inflows of US$251 billion—that marks a 25% increase over the prior record set at this time last year.

Read: ETF investors looking outside Canada, U.S.

But, despite the strength of ETF inflows, “uncertainty [over] China and when the Fed will raise interest rates continues to weigh [on] markets and investor sentiment,” says Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at ETFGI. “The S&P 500 decreased 2.6% in September, and is down 6.7% year to date.”

Statistics breakdown

In the U.S., net inflows reached US$146 billion, which is 8.5% higher than the prior record set in 2012. Read: Should clients buy U.S. ETFs?

In Europe, year-to-date net inflows have climbed to US$62 billion, representing a 30% increase on the record set through end of September 2014. Read: European ETF assets growing 13% faster

In Japan, year-to-date net inflows stood at US$36 billion as of the end of September, so they were up 143% over the record set last year.

Equity ETFs and ETPs gathered the largest net inflows of US$17 billion, followed by fixed income funds at US$12 billion. Read: Institutional investors turning to smart beta ETFs