BlackRock’s iShares topped the charts as the best-selling ETF promoter in Europe for October, outpacing Amundi and Vanguard, according to recent data from LSEG Lipper. Bond funds have become the most popular ETF category this year by a significant margin.
European ETF promoters experienced approximately 15.2 billion euro in inflows last month, even as total assets under management in the European ETF industry decreased to 1,432 billion euro.
iShares captured the lion’s share of inflows, with a substantial 5.8 billion euro. Europe’s largest asset manager, Amundi, recorded 2.1 billion euro in inflows, while the American financial giant Vanguard attracted 1.9 billion euro.
Equity ETFs reported the highest estimated net inflows within the European ETF sector for October at 10.2 billion euro. The majority of this investment, totalling 5.5 billion euro, was channelled into US equity funds. This was followed by US government bond funds at 3.4 billion euro and global equity funds at 2.1 billion euro.
For the year, bond funds have been the standout ETF class, drawing in excess of 115 billion euro.
“Market sentiment continues to be buoyed by hopes that central banks—especially the U.S. Federal Reserve—may have reached the final stages of their struggle against high and further increasing inflation rates,” said Detlef Glow, Head of EMEA Research at LSEG Lipper. “Some investors are already anticipating the possibility of declining interest rates later this year, which might be reflected by the estimated inflows into bond ETFs.”
Caution
Glow also noted ongoing concerns over geopolitical strife, persistent disruptions in supply chains, and the looming threat of recession in the U.S. and other major global economies.
“These fears have been heightened by long-term inverted yield curves, which are seen as an early indicator for a potential recession. The normalisation of the inverted yield curves might be another short-term challenge for the bond markets,” he said.
The top ten best-selling funds collectively amassed an impressive 6.8 billion euro in net inflows during October, with the iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF USD (Acc) leading the pack with estimated net inflows of 1.2 billion euro.