Last year finished strongly for exchange-traded funds and products (ETFs/ETPs) with record net inflows in December both in Canada and globally, according to new data from research firm ETFGI.

The ETF/ETP industry generated a record US$2.7 billion in net new assets (NNA) in Canada in December; and, for the year, net inflows totalled US$9.2 billion, according to preliminary data from ETFGI.

On a global basis, ETFs/ETPs gathered US$338.3 billion in net new assets during the year, and reached a new record of US$2.79 trillion in assets under management, the firm reports. Net inflows reached US$61.5 billion in December, which was also a record.

ETFGI says that it expect the industry to break the US$3 trillion mark in AUM in the first half of 2015. “The US$338.3 billion of net new assets gathered by ETFs/ETPs globally in 2014 demonstrates that ETFs have become a preferred tool for many types of investors to implement and adjust their asset allocation,” notes Deborah Fuhr, managing partner of ETFGI.

“The U.S. market outperformed other developed markets in 2014 marking the third year of double digit gains with the S&P 500 ending the year up 14%. Emerging markets gained 1% while developed markets were down 4% for the year,” she says.

Among benchmark providers, S&P has the largest share of ETF/ETP assets tracking its benchmarks, with a 30.6% global market share, ETFGI reports. MSCI is second with a 13.5% share, followed by Barclays at 9.0%. In Canada, S&P’s market share is even more dominant at 48.2%; FTSE is second at 23.5%, and Barclays ranks third with a 5.4% share.

ETFGI says that 29 new product providers entered the ETF/ETP business in 2014, and that there were 239 firms manufacturing these products at the end of 2014. The top provider on a global basis is iShares, which saw its market share decline to 37.2% from 38.4% in 2014; second-ranked SPDRs market share remained stable at 17.3%; while Vanguard, which saw its market share increase from 14.2% to 16.0% during the year, ETFGI reports.

In Canada, there are now nine providers of ETFs/ETPs. iShares remains the market leader, ETFGI reports, although its share declined from 66.6% to 59.0% during the year. BMO AM and Vanguard saw their market shares increase from 20.0% to 24.4%, and from 2.8% to 4.8%, respectively, the firm says. It also notes that Powershares’ market share grew slightly, from 2.7% to 2.9%; and, Horizons’ market share declined, from 6.5% to 5.5%.