Fri Feb 10, 2012 4:01pm EST
* ETF assets rose 6.4 pct in Jan to C$45.3 bln
* Net inflows were C$1.5 bln in the month
* Fixed income ETFs remain popular
Feb 10 (Reuters) – Assets managed in Canadian exchange
traded funds rose by 6.4 percent to C$45.3 billion ($45.3
billion) in January as financial market growth and net inflows
into both fixed-income and equity ETFs drove growth, according
to a report released on Friday.
Canadian ETFs overall had net inflows of C$1.5 billion in
January, according to a monthly report from the Canadian ETF arm
of New York-based BlackRock, the world’s largest money
manager.
ETFs are investment vehicles that own an array of stocks,
similar to mutual funds, but have shares that are traded on
public exchanges.
Strong stock market performance and continued demand for
fixed income boosted ETF assets under management. Fixed income
captured C$880 million of the net inflows in January, driven
largely by demand for yield through corporate bonds. Equity ETFs
attracted C$482 million in net inflows.
“Fixed income still remains very popular, continuing the
trend of the last half of 2011,” BlackRock said in a statement.
Low fees and greater transparency have helped ETFs attract
strong investment inflows in recent years. Unlike mutual fund
shares, which are re-priced once a day, the price of an ETF is
publicly quoted and visible throughout the day.
BlackRock’s Canadian iShares business had a market share of
66.6 percent in November, with assets under management of C$30.2
billion.
Claymore Investments had a 15.7 percent market share, with
ETF assets in Canada of C$7.1 billion.
BlackRock’s iShares unit snapped up privately held Claymore
Investments last month. The takeover of the No. 2 ETF player by
the No. 1 boosted iShares’ share of the Canadian ETF market to
about 82 percent, according to Friday’s data.
Bank of Montreal’s ETF assets rose to C$4.1
billion, while Horizon ETF assets edged up to C$3.2 billion.
Invesco PowerShares had C$493 million in assets under
management, Vanguard had C$94 million, Royal Bank of Canada had
C$64 million and XTF Capital had C$49 million in assets under
management at the end of January, the report showed
