According to data collected by ETFGI, a British research firm that specializes in exchange traded funds (ETFs) and exchange traded products (ETPs), the Canadian ETF/ETP industry gathered a record $2.7 billion USD of net new assets in the final month of 2014.

At the end of last year, ETFGI says that there were 475 exchange-traded funds and products listed in Canada, and their combined assets under management came to $66 billion USD.

“The global ETF/ETP industry enjoyed a very good year in 2014 gathering US $338 billion in net new assets," comments ETFGI’s managing partner Deborah Fuhr. "The US market outperformed other developed markets in 2014 marking the third year of double digit gains with the S&P 500 ending the year up 14%. Emerging markets gained 1% while developed markets were down 4% for the year."

There are nine companies offering exchange-traded products in Canada, and ETFGI says that the top five providers are iShares, BMO Asset Management, Horizons, Vanguard and Powershares. “BMO AM and Vanguard have seen their market shares increase from 20.0% to 24.4% and from 2.8% to 4.8% respectively,” reads the report. “Powershares market share has remained fairly stable going from 2.7% to 2.9%, while iShares has seen its market share decline from 66.6% to 59.0% during 2014. Horizons’ market share has also declined; from 6.5% to 5.5%.”

As for the most widely-tracked benchmarks, S&P Dow Jones has the largest number of funds following its indices, with a 48% share of the market, while FTSE and Barclays have 23.5% and 5.4% of the market respectively.