ETF Assets Continue Strong Growth

Exchange-traded fund (ETF) assets rose $63.3 billion for the month of December—up 6.8%.

 

According to State Street Global Adviosrs’ ETF Snapshot, for the year, ETF assets increased by $219 billion, or 28.2%.   

The report said the S&P 500 Index rose 6.7% in December while the MSCI EAFE Index gained 8.1%. U.S. Bonds fell with the Barclays U.S. Treasury Index falling 1.8% and the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index falling 1.1%. Gold rose 1.6% to $1,405 per ounce.   

Large Cap gains were driven mainly by inflows to the SPDR S&P 500 [SPY]. Losses in Fixed Income were driven by a combination of negative performance and outflows.   

Year-to-date, Emerging Market ETFs dominated, gaining $43.9 billion in assets, followed by Commodity, up nearly $31 billion, and Fixed Income, up $28.8 billion. Total 2010 ETF flows topped $111 billion—the fourth consecutive year with more than $100 billion in flows, according to the report. International-Emerging and Fixed Income were by far the largest recipients, gaining $27.1 billion and $26.4 billion, respectively.   

The top three managers in the U.S. ETF marketplace as of December 31, 2010 were BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard. Collectively, they accounted for approximately 83.7% of the U.S.-listed ETF market.   

The top three ETFs in terms of dollar volume traded for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 [SPY], iShares Russell 2000 [IWM], and PowerShares QQQ [QQQQ]. The top three ETFs in terms of assets for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 [SPY], SPDR Gold Shares [GLD], and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets [EEM].

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