ETF inflows offset drops in stocks, bonds

In June, ETF inflows of $1.5 billion offset price declines in stocks and bonds, says Pat Chiefalo, director of derivatives and structured products at National Bank Financial.

Along with research associates Daniel Strauss and Ling Zhang, he’s released his latest monthly report on ETF activity. It reveals, “Equity carried more than its fair share [by] representing over 90% of the monthly flow, with fixed income pausing in the month.”

The report adds, “Interest rate movements for the mid and long end likely fuelled outflows in government and aggregate bonds, along with shifts to shorter duration corporates. Commodity ETFs experienced another month of mild outflows of $24 million.”

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Looking at providers, BlackRock posted 3% growth in June, with $1.1 billion of net inflows. The report says this expansion was driven almost entirely by creations of its TSX 60 ETF.

Also, BMO continues its targeted expansion, given it reported $336 million of inflows in June. Meanwhile, Vanguard crossed the $1-billion asset milestone and posted 7% growth last month, while First Asset saw inflows of $22 million and 14% growth in starting assets—it recently launched a government, 1-to-5-year laddered strip bond fund that helped boost starting assets.

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