12/05/2011
European ETF assets up by more than 15.5% in January-April
As of the end of April, BlackRock reports, assets in 1,128 ETFs domiciled in Europe (and listed 2,952 times on 23 stock markets) totalled USD328.2bn, compared with USD307.5bn as of the end of March, and USD284bn as of the end of December 2010. One year previously, these levels stood at USD234.3bn. In other words, assets under management have risen in the space of twelve months by USD93.9bn, or 40%. Since the beginning of the year, assets have increased 15.5% (also see Newsmanagers of 18 April).In the first four months of 2011, net subscriptions have totalled USD12.9bn, of which USD4bn have gone to iShares, and USD3.1bn to UBS Global Asset Management. The heaviest net outflows were from Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale), at USD1.7bn.The BlackRock survey finds that the number of ETF funds increased in January-April by 5.2%, with 82 launches of funds, 7 discontinuations, and 19 fund mergers. The number of products increased 12.4%, or 103, in the corresponding period of 2010.iShares (BlackRock) remains the largest ETF provider in Europe, with 167 products and assets of Usd115.3bn, for a market share of 35.1%; the number of funds has not changed, but assets increased over the USD109.6bn recorded at the end of March, when market share was 35.7%. The number two fund management firm remains Lyxor AM, with 157 products, USD56.5bn in assets, and a 17.2% market share (156 funds, USD53.7bn, and 17.5% of the market as of the end of March), followed by db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), with 158 funds, USD53.5bn, and a market share of 16.3% (156 ETFs, USD50.6bn, and 16.4%).
