ETF net flows at US$45bn for March - Global ETF FlowWatch

ETF net flows worldwide totalled US$45 billion during March 2016, the largest monthly net flows so far this year. Equity products garnered US$23 billion of net new money, after suffering net redemptions in previous two months, while bond ETFs recorded US$16 billion in net inflows. ETF assets globally grew to just over US$3 trillion, benefiting from a broad market recovery during the month.

In the U.S., equity products collected US$19 billion in net new cash amid the recovery of equity market. Equity US - Large Cap led with inflows of over US$8 billion, followed by Equity Emerging Market at nearly US$6 billion. Bond products garnered over US$16 billion in net new money, mainly to Bond USD and Bond USD- High Yield products.

European ETFs saw a moderate US$6 billion in net flows. Equity products saw net withdrawals of US$2 billion, a similar amount compared to the prior month. On the other hand, Bond ETFs gathered US$7 billion in net flows.

Asia took in the same amount of inflows as Europe, with Equity Japan and Equity China ETFs together collecting over US$6 billion of net deposits. Moreover, Gold ETFs contributed over US$400 million in Asia for the month.

SPDR SSgA Gender Diversity Index ETF was the largest ETF new launch in March, garnering nearly US$270 million. As an impact investing ETF, it seeks to identify the potential of gender diversity to drive returns by tracking SSGA Gender Diversity Index.

This index is designed to track the performance of U.S. Large Cap companies that exhibit greater gender diversity in their senior leadership positions. California State Teachers’ Retirement System put in US$250 million and will increase its investment to US$500 million in April.