Just three exchange traded funds with exposure to ex-U.S. developed markets are among the top 10 asset-gathering ETFs this year.
With $4 billion of inflows, a total surpassed by just eight other ETFs, the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: HEDJ) is one of those three international ETFs. Lured by expectations that the European Central Bank will soon engage in Federal Reserve-style bond buying, investors have been rushing to HEDJ.
Last week, investors allocated $432 million to HEDJ, bringing the ETF’s November inflows to $1.17 billion, reports Inyoung Hwang for Bloomberg.
Although the ECB disappointed global markets by not announcing new easing measures when its meeting concluded earlier today, HEDJ has since pared most of its Thursday’s losses after various outlets reported the ECB President Mario Draghi is readying a broad QE package to be unveiled at the ECB’s January meeting.
Last month, Goldman Sachs said it expects the ECB to announce QE sometime in the first half of 2015, speculation that has helped stoke inflows to HEDJ and lead some market participants to compare the ETF’s torrid 2014 asset-gathering pace to what was seen with the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DXJ) last year. [Hedged Euro ETF Back in the Limelight]
Since the start of the fourth quarter, HEDJ has added $1.76 billion in new assets, a total exceeded by just nine other ETFs, all of which are either U.S. equity or fixed income funds. Conversely, the rival and unhedged Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (NYSEArca: VGK) has lost $1.76 billion in assets this quarter. [These ETFs Have Doubled in Size in 2014]