Fixed-Income Drives ETF Growth

Fixed-income has been the driver in the exchange-traded fund marketplace for the month of August. According to State Street Global Advisors’ most recent U.S. ETF Snapshot, fixed-income ETFs were up 4% in August, bringing total assets in the category to $48.59 billion. "Our advisors and institutional clients have been looking for the low-correlated exposure of [fixed-income]…we’ve seen a lot of new flows into the category and there have been a lot of fixed-income launches [this year]," said Anthony Rochte, senior managing director at SSGA. Rochte added that many investors have been using Treasury Inflation Protected Securities ETFs as inflation plays amid growing inflation concern in the U.S. and internationally.

Overall, ETFs saw $4.7 billion in net inflows in August, bringing assets to $582 billion. There are 710 ETFs in the U.S., managed by 24 ETF managers. Rochte said he has seen a continued increase of share issuances in the U.S., indicating ETF growth. "We continue to see pockets of interest, particularly in fixed-income ETFs, in what is a very difficult marketplace."

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