The Australian ETF industry reported finishing Q1 2019 with a growth rate of 13%, reaching a new high. By the end of March, the industry recorded $46.1bn in assets, an increase of $1.3bn over the month.
Despite no new listings for the four weeks amongst a quiet quarter in general, the industry has seen significant growth . This can be mostly attributed to the net new cash flows of $760m with the remaining 40% of the $1.3bn coming from asset value appreciation.
In contrast to almost every other month in the past few years, it was the Australian exposures which received the highest level of investment in March. Investors potentially feel due to the huge surge that has been seen with global shares, it all may be coming to an end and consequently are turning back to Australian markets, according to Betashares.
Australian equities saw inflows of $255m. Second to equity was Australian bonds with an inflow of $150m. The third most popular asset class was international bonds (developed markets) with inflows of $97.4m.
Betashares’ forecast remains unchanged, with Australian ETFs’ funds under management expected to reach $50-55bn by the end of 2019, giving a growth rate of 19%.
