Canadian ETFs attract more than $5B in November

Canadian ETFs gathered $5.4 billion in net flows in November, with equity funds leading the pack, National Bank Financial Inc. said in a monthly ETF report.

Equity inflows were $3.8 billion, led by market cap–weighted passive ETFs and sector ETFs, specifically financials ($798 million).

Energy sector funds had outflows of $376 million.

“The sudden decline in crude oil prices might have expedited some profit taking via energy sector ETFs,” the report said, noting that energy is the best performing sector in the S&P/TSX composite index year-to-date.

Fixed-income inflows were $308 million — “a retreat from September’s demand surge for safety assets,” the report said.

Fixed-income categories with redemptions included government and sub-investment-grade bonds and cash alternative ETFs.

With October’s rising inflation figures, real return bond ETFs had $100 million in flows — an annualized increase of 6.2%, which is the largest jump in 18 years, the report said.

Commodity ETFs saw a small redemption of $5 million, led by gold bullion ETFs, and the multi-asset category had $474 million in inflows.

In the latter category, growth-oriented and anti-beta funds were most popular: “Investors continue to hunt for that elusive combination of equity growth coupled with protection,” the report said.

It also noted that the crypto category had $617 million in inflows in the month, with Ethereum funds outpacing Bitcoin funds.

In total, November had 27 new ETF launches, including some category firsts such as Horizons’ and Evolve’s respective metaverse thematic ETFs.

Year-to-date, Canadian ETFs have reached $48 billion in inflows — “a stellar figure that has already surpassed the $41 billion record-breaking annual figure that was set in 2020,” the report said.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.