ETF Assets Up 5% in September

As of September 30, ETF assets total approximately $695 billion, according to State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), an ETF provider. ETF assets rose $33.6 billion, or 5.1%, last month.

All 12 types of ETFs gained assets. The International category saw the largest absolute gain, climbing $12.6 billion, according to SSgA data. Inverse/leveraged ETFs were up 2% after seeing losses in July (see “ETFs Gain Assets Overall; Leveraged ETFs Lose Assets”).

By size and style, the mid-cap and small-cap categories saw the most gains, up 10.6% and 8.6%, respectively. Large-cap fell slightly, losing about $2 billion. Small-cap and mid-cap have outperformed large-cap year-to-date by more than 1,500 basis points, according to the report. Across the board, all market caps are up more than 20% year-to-date.

All 10 sectors gained assets last month. Materials jumped 15.5% and industrials climbed about 14.6%. Industrials performed the best last month (up 6.8%). Year-to-date, technology outpaces other sectors (up 46%).

Short interest rose among several size categories, particularly small-cap, which jumped 8.2%. Short interest fell for REITs and U.S. large-cap (about 4% for each).