Ilan Israelstam
3 minutes reading time
APRIL 2022: FLOWS REMAIN POSITIVE BUT INDUSTRY AUM DROPS
Following a March in which the industry grew in size, and notwithstanding positive net flows, the Australian ETF industry dropped in value in April, reflecting falls in global sharemarkets, and representing the third month out of four in 2022 in which the industry has declined. Read on for details, including best performers, asset flow categories and more.
Source: ASX, Chi-X, BetaShares.
Market cap
- Australian Exchange Traded Funds Market Cap: $133.5B
- Market cap change for month: -1.4%, -$1.9B
- Market cap growth for the last 12 months: 22.7%, + $24.7B
Comment: The industry fell 1.4% (-$1.9B) month on month and ended April at $133.5B
New money
- Net flows for month: +$1.2B
Comment: Even with markets falling, ETF investors continued to allocate, with net flows of $1.2B, a level very similar to that experienced in March (of $1.3B)
Products
- 290 Exchange Traded Products trading on the ASX
- 1 new product launched – we launched the first Australian equities ETF with a dedicated focus on the Quality factor, Betashares Australian Quality ETF (ASX: AQLT)
Trading value
- ASX ETF Trading value decreased 35% month on month and was $7.5B, the lowest level in 11 months (however Easter Period has typically had subdued volumes)
Comment: The Easter period and overall investor caution caused trading values to plummet to levels not seen in the last 11 months, representing a fall of 35% ($7.5B in total)
Performance
- Best performance in April was short geared U.S. exposures (e.g. BBUS +23%) as well as our Geared U.S. dollar fund (YANK + 12.8%) as U.S. markets fell significantly and the U.S. dollar appreciated
Comment: Industry growth over the last 12 months has been 23% for a total of $24.7B net growth
Top 5 Category inflows (by $) – April 2022
| Category | Inflow Value |
| International Equities | $513,066,904 |
| Australian Equities | $299,169,182 |
| Fixed Income | $223,017,427 |
| Multi-Asset | $89,756,187 |
| Cash | $64,665,149 |
Comment: In terms of category flows, the industry flows were very similar to those recorded in March, with international equities continuing to see the lion’s share inflows ($513m) followed by Australian Equities ($299m)
Top Category outflows (by $) – April 2022
| Category | Inflow Value |
| Short | ($24,272,082) |
| Commodities | ($5,207,262) |
| Currency | ($3,160,942) |
Comment: We saw some profit taking in short exposures which experienced strong positive performance as sharemarkets fell
Source: Bloomberg, BetaShares.
Top Sub-Category inflows (by $) – April 2022
| Sub-Category | Inflow Value |
| International Equities – Developed World | $207,550,456 |
| Australian Bonds | $201,947,999 |
| Australian Equities – Broad | $182,951,565 |
| International Equities – US | $132,133,916 |
Top Sub-Category outflows (by $) – April 2022
| Sub-Category | Inflow Value |
| International Equities – Europe | ($22,219,021) |
| US Equities – Short | ($21,456,814) |
| Australian Equities – Geared | ($8,023,971) |
| Gold | ($5,399,575) |
| Currency | ($3,160,942) |
