Mutual fund net sales totalled $112.6-billion in 2021, the largest annual net sales on record, according to the 2021 Investment Funds Report published by the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC). Exchange traded fund (ETF) net sales totalled $58.7-billion during the year. “As with mutual funds, 2021 was the largest year on record for net sales,” the report states.
At the end of 2021, Canadian mutual fund assets totalled $2.08-trillion and ETF assets totalled $347-billion. Responsible investment mutual fund assets totalled $33.6-billion, while responsible investment ETF assets totalled $8.2-billion. Their net sales were $13.2-billion and $4.2-billion for responsible investment funds and ETFs, respectively.
In 2021, crypto currency mutual fund assets also totalled $30-million and ETF assets totalled $5.9-billion. (Regulators approved the launch of Canada’s first cryptocurrency mutual funds and ETFs in 2021. The funds currently in existence invest in either Bitcoin or Ethereum. Just three active funds currently invest in both cryptocurrencies.)
IFIC adds that there were 114 companies offering mutual funds at the end of 2021, an increase of two firms during the course of the year. The number of available mutual funds increased by 73 during the year on a net basis, bringing the total number of funds on offer to 3,298. “Many of the new fund launches included products with responsible investing investment objectives and strategies. There were also eight cryptocurrency mutual funds launched.”
In ETFs, meanwhile, there were 40 investment firms offering ETFs at the end of 2021, “more than double the number of companies offering ETFs five years ago,” they write. On a net basis, 111 ETFs were added during the year, bringing the total number of ETFs available to 964.
