Canadian ETF inflows break $30B year-to-date in August

Canadian ETFs had inflows of $2.8 billion in August, bringing year-to-date inflows to $32 billion, National Bank Financial Inc. said in a report on Wednesday.

Monthly inflows were split almost equally between equity and fixed income asset classes.

Equity ETF inflows were $1.2 billion in August — “a healthy tally,” the report said, though it was concentrated in a few products and product suites. These included passive cap-weighted Canadian equity ETFs and multi-factor ETFs.

Among equity ETFs, sector rotation was evident during the month.

“The pro-cyclical financial sector saw redemptions while the more defensive real estate and utility sectors raked in money,” the report said.

Financials saw outflows of $239 million, while utilities ($51 million) and real estate ($44 million) saw the strongest sector flows.

The report also noted steady inflows into thematic equity ETFs: infrastructure and ESG ETFs, specifically.

As with equity ETFs, fixed income had inflows of $1.2 billion in the month, with Canada aggregate bond ETFs, a Canada corporate bond ETF and cash-like deposit ETFs leading the way.

Liquid alternative ETFs also had “a meaningful month,” the report said. Horizons Adaptive Asset Allocation ETF had $63 million in inflows in August after its recent corporate class reorganization, the report said.

Guardian Capital, the sub-advisor for some Horizons ETFs, joined the ETF market with 10 actively managed ETFs of its own, bringing the total number of ETF providers in Canada to 37.

Overall in August, 14 ETFs were launched.

For full details, read the National Bank report.

Staff

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