Global ETF and ETP assets reach record $5.74t at the end of July 2019

ETFs and ETPs listed globally extended their lead over assets invested in the global hedge fund industry to $2.39 trillion at the end of second quarter 2019, an increase of 7.98 percent over the gap at the end of first quarter 2019, according to ETFGI’s Second Quarter 2019 Global ETF and ETP industry landscape insights report.

ETFGI is an independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem.

Highlights include:

• Assets invested in global ETF/ETP industry extended lead over assets in global hedge fund industry to $2.39 trillion at the end of June 2019.
• Assets invested in the global ETF/ETP industry reached a record $5.64 trillion.
• 46 percent growth in assets invested in ETFs/ETPs over second quarter 2019 outpaces 2.01 percent growth in assets in hedge funds over the same period. In contrast, growth over first quarter 2019 was 12 percent and 2.38 percent, respectively.
• $5.64 trillion invested in 7,909 ETFs/ETPs listed globally at end of second quarter 2019.
• $3.25 trillion invested in 8,258 hedge funds listed globally at end of second quarter 2019.

The global hedge fund industry saw assets rise to $3.25 trillion, with net outflows of $4.9 billion during the quarter.  According to analysis by ETFGI, $5.64 trillion were invested in 7,909 ETFs/ETPs listed globally at the end of second quarter 2019, representing growth in assets of 4.46 percent. Over the same period hedge fund assets reached a new record level of $3.25 trillion, representing growth in assets of 2.01 percent, according to a report by Hedge Fund Research.

The HFRI Fund weighted composite index returned 7.44 percent in the first half of 2019, the strongest first half since 2009. Growth in assets in the ETF/ETP industry has outpaced growth in the hedge fund industry since the financial crisis in 2008. In the second quarter 2019 the return of the S&P 500 Index was better than the performance of the HFRI Fund weighted Composite index:  4.31 percent vs. 1.89 percent, respectively.

During the second quarter of 2019, ETFs/ETPs listed globally gathered $209.50 billion in net inflows, according to ETFGI’s Global ETF and ETP industry insights report. In contrast, HFR reported net outflows of $4.90 billion into hedge funds over the same period.