British research and consulting firm ETFGI LLP says exchange traded funds (ETFs) listed in Canada gathered net inflows of US$1.34-billion in October, bringing year-to-date net inflows to a record US$25.98-billion. Year-to-date numbers significantly outstripped year-to-date numbers reported as of October 2019, when ETFGI reported net inflows of just US$14.16-billion. ETF inflows for all of 2019 came in at just US$20.93-billion.

During October, Canadian ETF assets decreased by 1.2 per cent, falling from US$176.27-billion at the end of September 2020 to US$174.12-billion at the end of October 2020. “Assets of US$174.12-billion invested in ETFs and ETPs listed in Canada at the end of October are the third highest on record,” the company writes. All told, the Canadian ETF industry had 843 ETFs with 1,024 listings from 38 providers on two exchanges at the end of October. ETFGI says substantial inflows can be attributed to the top 20 ETFs by new assets, which collectively gathered US$1.82-billion during October. The Horizons Emerging Markets Equity Index ETF alone gathered US$345.51-million during the month.

Equity ETFs gathered net inflows of US$609-million during October, bringing year-to-date 2020 numbers to US$12.46-billion, higher than the US$2.75-billion in net inflows that equity products gathered year-to-date during the same period in 2019. Fixed income ETFs saw net inflows of US$113-million during the month, bringing net inflows for the year to the end of October 2020 to US$4.07-billion, higher than the US$3.59-billion in net inflows that fixed income products attracted by the end of October 2019.