The Australian exchange traded fund industry grew by 5%, or $1.1B, during the first half of 2016, despite the challenging market conditions, ending the financial year with total funds under management of $22.5B. June was especially turbulent with the Brexit vote and the Australian election all adding to ongoing volatility. Investors continued to support ETFs by investing almost $1.4B in new money into the industry during the last 6 months meaning that all the industry’s growth this half has come from structural growth, with asset price declines actually being a net negative for the industry as a whole.
The industry continued to mature during 2016 with 16 new products added and 10 closed so far this year. We expect the number of new products to grow significantly during the last half of the year in what will be another strong year for product launches. 
Market Size and Growth
- ASX Exchange Traded Funds Market Cap: $22.5B
- FuM growth for half year: 5.2%, +$1.1B
- FuM growth for last twelve months: 21.8%, +$4.0B
New Money
- New unit growth for half year (units outstanding by number): +14.6%
- Net new money for half year (units outstanding by $ value): +$1.4B
- New unit growth for June (units outstanding by number): -0.2%
- Net new money for June(units outstanding by $ value): +$26.8m
Products
- 175 Exchange Traded Products trading on the ASX
- 16 new products launched in the half year, with 10 closures recorded
Trading Value
- Average trading value decreased 11% compared to previous half year period
- During June the trading values decreased by 29% month on month
Performance
Gold exposures (physical gold bullion and gold miners) were the strongest performers for the first half of 2016.
Top 5 category inflows (by $) – Half Year 2016
Top 5 category outflows (by $) – Half Year 2016
The "Style" category was the only one to record outflows for the half year, to the value of -$47,120,271.
Top 5 category inflows (by $) – June 2016
Top 5 category outflows (by $) – June 2016 Category
Author's Note: Whilst the largest outflows came in Australian Fixed Income and Broad Australian equities we suspect both those outflows were the result of single institutional trades rather than broader market selling.
Inflows were highest in international equities exposures during June, followed by strong inflows into the BetaShares US Dollar (AX:USD) as investors retreated to safe haven assets
BetaShares launched 3 new products during June 2016 which included the first two actively managed products launched under the new BetaShares/AMP Capital alliance, the AMP Capital Global Infrastructure Securities (AX:GLIN) and the AMP Capital Global Property Securities (AX:RENT).. We also launched the first in a series of global sector ETFs, the Betashares Global Energy Companies (AX:FUEL).
Originally published by BetaShares.com.au