The exchange-traded fund (ETF) and exchange-traded product (ETP) industry gathered record new assets in the first half of 2015, according to the latest data from London, UK-based research firm ETFGI.

In the first six months of this year, US$152 billion in net new assets went into ETFs and ETPs listed globally, outpacing last year’s first half record of US$130 billion, ETFGI reports.

In the U.S., the industry saw US$103 billion in net new assets, beating the previous record of US$76 billion in the first half of 2012. European products saw US$40 billion in net new assets, up from US$32 billion in 2014.

By asset class, equity products have captured US$101.7 billion in net new inflows so far this year, followed by fixed income funds with US$35.4 billion, and commodity products with net inflows of US$4.2 billion.

In June alone, ETFs/ETPs managed net inflows of US$24.8 billion, ETFGI reports. All of that went into equity products, which had net inflows of US$27.9 billion. These inflows were lightly offset by net outflows from commodity and fixed income products.

At the midway mark of 2015, the global ETF/ETP industry had total assets of US$2.97 trillion, from 259 providers listed on 62 exchanges in 51 countries, it notes.

iShares gathered the largest net inflows in the first half of the year with US$52.1 billion, ETFGI reports, followed by Vanguard with US$44.8 billion), and WisdomTree a distant third with US$20.3 billion.