The MarketsFebruary 1, 2010

2009 ETF Inflows Top $100B

ETF net inflows surpassed $100 billion during 2009, as investors moved away from large-cap U.S. equities and developed international equities and increased their exposure to ETFs, according to a new report.

Reported by Fred Schneyer

A State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) news release about its 2009 Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) Year-End Review and 2010 Outlook report said the popular defensive asset classes included gold, investment grade corporate bonds, and U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities. The report said 2009 was the third consecutive year of $100 billion-plus ETF inflows.

“While the pace of new product launches slowed in 2009, the trajectory of ETF asset growth underscores how these innovative investment vehicles are changing the way investors and advisers construct portfolios,” said Tom Anderson, director of strategy and research for the Intermediary Business Group at State Street Global Advisors, in the release. “With U.S. ETF assets projected to reach the $1-trillion mark in 2010, the catalysts driving this growth are poised to shape the industry’s expanding landscape in the near future.”

The announcement said the report’s themes included:

effective tactical use of ETFs by investors;
continued expansion of fixed-income ETF products and assets;
traditional mutual fund providers entering the space; and
emergence of actively managed ETFs.