Retail investors continued to pile onto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) last month, trying not to miss out on a soaring share market.
According to BetaShares, the ETF industry broke multiple records in November including total funds under management, largest dollar growth in funds under management, highest monthly net inwards flow and highest annual growth.
The industry reached an all-time high market capitalisation of $78.7 billion in November, which was further boosted to $92.3 billion after Magellan Global Fund (ASX: MGF) joined the sector on its conversion to an "open class" structure.
Excluding the Magellan aberration, funds under management grew $4.9 billion, which smashed the previous monthly record of $4.1 billion set in January.
About half of that growth came from asset appreciation and the other half from inward flows, which set a new monthly record of $2.5 billion.
"Including the Magellan conversion, industry growth over the last 12 months has been 52%, representing absolute growth of $31.6 billion over this period," reported BetaShares.
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Best performing Aussie ETFs right now
The five ETFs with the biggest returns in November were dominated by US shares and commodities.
The share market generally had a fantastic month, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rising 10% and S&P 500 Index (INDEXSP: .INX) jumping 11%.
| ETF | November performance |
| BetaShares Geared US Equity Fund Currency Hedged (ASX: GGUS) | 27.8% |
| ETFS Ultra Long NASDAQ 100 Hedge Fund (ASX: LNAS) | 26.1% |
| BetaShares Crude Oil Idx ETF-Currency Hgd(Synth) (ASX: OOO) | 25.4% |
| Betashares Global Energy Cos ETF-Currency Hedged (ASX: FUEL) | 25.3% |
| BetaShares Geared Australian Equity (Hedge Fund) (ASX: GEAR) | 22.9% |
| Source: BetaShares; Table created by author | |
The top two ETFs were hedge funds.
BetaShares Geared US Equity Fund Currency Hedged came out on top with a remarkable 27.8% performance. ETFS Ultra Long NASDAQ 100 Hedge Fund wasn't far behind on 26.1%.
Who are the most popular ETF providers?
Vanguard and BetaShares continue their dominance of the ETF market, attracting the largest amount of inward flows this year.
Magellan with its fund conversion has moved up to 7th with $422.7 million coming in to it so far in 2020.
Platinum retains its crown as the least popular provider with more than $48 million taken out, with ACBC storming into second place in November.
Top 5 ETF providers: most money in
| ETF provider | In-flow year-to-date | % of Australian industry |
| Vanguard | $5.1 billion | 28.2% |
| BetaShares | $4.8 billion | 26.6% |
| iShares | $2.8 billion | 15.7% |
| VanEck | $1.9 billion | 10.7% |
| ETF Securities | $1.2 billion | 6.7% |
| Source: BetaShares; Table created by author | ||
Bottom 5 ETF providers: most money out
| ETF provider | In-flow year-to-date | % of Australian industry |
| Platinum | ($48.3 million) | (0.3%) |
| ACBC | ($23.5 million) | (0.1%) |
| K2 Global | ($5.2 million) | 0.0% |
| Schroder | ($1.5 million) | 0.0% |
| Antipodes | ($0.5 million) | 0.0% |
| Source: BetaShares; Table created by author | ||
