Strategic Insight: exchange-traded funds top $1.3 trillion in November

By Warren S. Hersch

December 14, 2012 at 08:13 AM

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Exchange-traded funds topped $1.3 trillion in assets November of 2012, new research reveals.

Strategic Insight, New York, published this finding in its latest monthly survey of ETFs and mutual fund flows.

Net new flows of assets into ETFs reached $14 billion in November. These included domestic equity funds ($4 billion), international equity funds ($5 billion), taxable bond funds ($5 billion) and tax-free bond funds ($0.5 billion).

For the year to date, net new ETF flows totaled $152 billion, of which domestic equity flows comprised the largest component at $69 billion. International equity flows for the year to date totaled $31 billion.

Net new flows into taxable bond funds reached $49 billion for the year. And tax-free bond flows attained $3 billion.

The various ETF fund flows, the report notes, exclude variable annuity funds and funds-of funds but include exchange-traded notes (ETNs).

Mutual fund assets topped out $8.9 trillion in November, a gain of $6 billion over the month prior and up $265 billion for the year. Domestic equity funds and international equity funds both declined for the month, however, suffering net outflows of $16 billion and $1 billion, respectively. For the year to date, domestic equity funds declined by $70 billion, while international equity funds rose by $31 billion, the report shows.

Taxable bond funds totaled $2.4 trillion in November, up $18 billion for the month. Tax-free bonds ended November at $595 billion, up $5 billion for the month.

For the year-to-date, net new flows into taxable bonds and tax-free bonds totaled $250 billion and $55 billion, respectively.

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