Canadian exchange-traded fund (ETF) assets grew by a modest 2.6% in the first half of 2015, according to preliminary data from U.S.-based independent research firm ETFGI.
The firm reports that the Canadian ETF industry had US$68 billion in assets by the end of June, spread across 367 funds from 11 issuers. Through the first half, ETFs and exchange-traded products (ETPs) have had net inflows of US$6.6 billion, including US$984 million in June.
Equity products led the way, with net inflows of US$3.1 billion in the first half, ETFGI reports. That is followed by the fixed income sector, which had US$2.6 billion in net inflows. Commodity ETFs/ETPs have suffered net outflows of US$17 million so far this year.
In June, equity funds gathered the lion’s share of the net inflows, with US$814 million. Fixed income funds had US$85 million of net inflows, and commodity funds added US$20 million.
According to ETFGI, iShares led the way in June, with inflows of US$518 million. BMO Asset Management was a distant second, with US$146 million in net inflows, and Vanguard ranked third with US$124 million net inflows. However, in the first half, BMO was the top provider with US$2.9 billion of net flows, followed by Vanguard at US$1.1 billion, and iShares had US$761 million.