Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded products (ETPs) reached a record high of US$5.4 trillion in March, attracting $US37.21 billion in net inflows in March alone.

April 11th marks the 19th anniversary of the listing of the first ETFs in Europe. European Exchange Traded Fund Company launched two listed diversified return securities (LDRS) on the Deutsche Borse. These funds are co-managed by Merrill Lynch and track the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 and Stoxx 50 indexes.

More than 400 providers in ETF/ETP industry

At the end of March, the Global ETF/ETP industry had 7,720 ETFs/ETPs, from 412 providers listed on 72 exchanges in 58 countries. Following net inflows of US$37.21 billion and market moves during the month, assets invested in the Global ETF/ETP industry increased by 1.41% from US$5.32 trillion at the end of February, to US$5.40 Trillion.

“Markets appear to have returned to the relative calm they had grown accustomed to over the past few years,” said Deborah Fuhr, managing partner and founder of ETFGI. “Returns for developed indices decelerated in March, as the effects of more cautious and accommodative central bank policies lose steam.”