DWS, Vanguard and State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) saw strong ETF inflows in Q2 as demand for core equities remained solid.
According to data from ETFbook, investors piled $59.1bn into European-listed ETFs in the previous quarter, up from $49.4bn in Q1, as bullish sentiment for risk assets continued.
BlackRock captured $23.4bn inflows over the quarter, the most across all ETF issuers, taking its overall assets under management (AUM) to $880bn.
In particular, the iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF (CSPX) saw $3.8bn inflows, the most across all European ETFs, while investors poured a combined $4.2bn into the iShares MSCI USA ESG Enhanced UCITS ETF (EEDS) and the iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF (SWDA).
DWS pulled in the second-highest ETF inflows in Q2. The German asset manager’s $7.4bn inflows drove its AUM to $217bn, a 10.5% share of the $2trn European market.
Ongoing demand for the Xtrackers EUR Overnight Rate Swap UCITS ETF (XEON), which captured $2bn inflows in Q2, was a key driver of the firm’s strong quarter.
It was also another positive three months for Vanguard which pulled in $5.9bn inflows amid strong demand for its global equity and short-duration US Treasury ETFs, in particular.
Alongside DWS, the US giant has been a standout performer this year as investor demand for core ETF exposures in Europe continues to grow.
SSGA’s decision to slash the fee on its SPDR S&P 500 UCITS ETF (SPY5) to 0.03% last October is the driver behind the asset manager’s strong performance this quarter.
The firm saw $5.5bn inflows in Q2 as SPY5 pulled in $2.5bn net new assets, the second-highest across European ETFs.
Meanwhile, Amundi continued to struggle versus its rivals following the acquisition of Lyxor. Europe’s largest asset manager saw $4.9bn inflows in Q2, driving its AUM to $254bn.
Chart 1: Top 10 ETF issuer inflows in Europe in Q2
ETF issuer | Q2 flows (bn, $) | AUM (bn, $) |
|---|---|---|
BlackRock | 23.4 | 880 |
DWS | 7.4 | 217 |
Vanguard | 5.9 | 145 |
State Street Global Advisors | 5.5 | 84 |
Amundi | 4.9 | 254 |
Invesco | 3.5 | 96 |
JP Morgan Asset Management | 3.4 | 28.9 |
HSBC Asset Management | 2.6 | 52.9 |
BNP Paribas Asset Management | 1.6 | 29.7 |
VanEck | 1.1 | 10.7 |
Source: ETFbook
Across the smaller players in the market, VanEck was a standout performer, with $1.1bn inflows over the quarter.
The US asset manager crossed the $10bn AUM milestone in European ETFs in May, a significant moment for the firm which launched its first ETFs in 2015 before acquiring ThinkETF in January 2018.
At the other end of the spectrum, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) continued its torrid start to the year, with $1.2bn outflows, the most across all European ETF issuers.
The UK asset manager has struggled from waning demand for ESG this year as investors pulled $1.2bn from its L&G US ESG Exclusions Paris Aligned UCITS ETF (RIUS) over the quarter.
WisdomTree also had a challenging quarter amid waning demand for commodity ETPs. The specialist saw $790m outflows amid significant outflows from its copper and physical silver ETCs.
