ETFs in Europe suffered net outflows in August for the first time in more than three years resulting in a decrease in assets under management in the European ETF industry, according to Refinitiv.
Assets under management in the European ETF industry decreased from €772.8bn from end July to €757bn at the end of August.
The decrease of €15.9bn for August was driven by net outflows (-€8.8 bn), while the performance of the underlying markets contributed €7.0 bn to the outflows in assets under management.
It was the first time the European ETF industry faced outflows since February 2016.
“As the outflows from ETFs were driven by equity funds, these flows could be seen as a sign that investor concerns have materialized about decreasing company earnings, an increased volatility in stock markets globally, a new crisis in the Persian Gulf region, and a new stage in the trade war between China and the US, as well as a possible hard Brexit,” said Detlef Glow, Lipper’s head of EMEA research at Refinitiv.
Equity ETFs (-€12.2 bn) faced the highest outflows in the European ETF segment, while bond ETFs were the asset type with the highest net inflows (+€3.3 bn), followed by commodity ETFs (+€0.2 bn), and mixed-assets ETFs (+€0.1 bn).
Equity ETFs lead slump
This flow pattern drove the overall net flows to €42.8 bn for 2019.
Regarding the Lipper global classifications, the European ETF market was split into 179 different peer groups. The highest assets under management at the end of August were held by funds classified as Equity U.S. (€142.2 bn), followed by Equity Global (€72.8 bn), Equity Eurozone (€45.8 bn), Equity Europe (€39.8 bn), and Equity Emerging Markets Global (€36.4 bn).
These five peer groups accounted for 44.51% of the overall assets under management in the European ETF segment, while the 10-top classifications by assets under management accounted for 57.86%.
The best-selling Lipper global classification for August was Bond EMU Government (+€1.1 bn), followed by Bond USD High Yield (+€0.7 bn) and Bond Global Corporates USD (+€0.6 bn).
Government bonds back in favour as risks rise
The best-selling ETF for August, iShares $ HighYield Corp Bond UCITS ETF USD Dist, which accounted for net inflows of €0.6 bn.
