U.S.-listed exchange traded funds attracted higher inflows in 2011 to take the business to $1 trillion in assets under management. Leading the charge, Vanguard brought in the most in new investment dollars for the second year in a row.
While smaller providers gained greater market share as larger providers attracted lower inflows, Vanguard still brought in $35.8 billion in new inflows last year, compared to iShares at $28.8 billion and State Street Global Advisors with $17.2 billion, reports Chris Flood for the Financial Times.
ProShares, the largest provider of leveraged and inverse ETF products, saw inflows rise to $6.4 billion from $2.8 billion in 2010. Inflows to U.S.-listed leveraged and inverse ETFs more than doubled to $11.1 billion in 2011, despite growing scrutiny on the investment product.
Inflows to long fixed-income ETFs rose 70% to $44.6 billion in 2011 as investors piled into U.S. government bonds. Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (NYSEArca: BND) and iShares Barclays Aggregate Bond (NYSEArca: AGG) attracted the largest amount of last year’s inflows, gathering $5.2 billion and $2.4 billion, respectively, according to the FT story.
Corporate debt was also a popular draw. The iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEArca: HYG) and the iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEArca: LQD) were among the top 10 for inflows.