Global ETF FlowWatch – March 2015 Results

Worldwide ETFs attracted US$38 billion of inflows in March, bringing the total for the first quarter of 2015 to just shy of US$100 billion. Global AUM stood at US$2.9 trillion at the end of the month, an increase of US$160 billion from December.

ETFs in Europe saw their highest ever quarterly inflows. Net deposits of US$7 billion in March 2015 raised the total inflows for the first quarter to US$36 billion. European equity funds saw the highest demand, with Large Cap Equity Europe ETFs experiencing inflows of US$5 billion in March and US$11 billion in the quarter. Total assets for European ETFs were US$512 billion at the end of March, up from US$474 billion at the end of last year.

International equity funds drove ETF inflows in the U.S. in March. Equity Europe and Equity Global Large Cap were the top inflow categories, with US$8 billion each of net deposits. ETFs in the U.S. saw inflows of US$27 billion overall in March. 

Asia domiciled ETFs garnered inflows of US$2 billion in March. Japanese domiciled leverage/inverse equity funds attracted US$2 billion of net deposits in the month. 

The biggest ETF launch in March was the U.S. domiciled iShares Exponential Technologies fund, which collected inflows of US$600 million