North American ETF flows dip

Canadian and U.S. ETF flows slipped in January, says National Bank’s Pat Chiefalo in a recent report.

Along with research associates Daniel Straus and Ling Zhang, he finds there were outflows of more than $200 million in Canada due in part to “steady redemptions from broad Canadian equity ETFs.”

Also, some investors dropped fixed income ($40 million in outflows were recorded) and commodity funds ($11 million in outflows were recorded). “Multi-asset ETFs were the only asset class that saw inflows in January at $8 million,” says the report.

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In the U.S., ETF flows were down slightly by US$15 billion. That drop represents 0.9% of 2013 year-end assets, says the report.

It adds equities were the main driver of the pullback since funds tracking equities were down 1%. “Following a strong 2013 and December market run-up, investors voted with dollars on a potential market pullback, with inverse funds up US$1.3 billion or 7%,” says the report.

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