Top 10 ETF Trends of 2022

Related: Mutual Funds vs. ETFs: Which Are Better for Retirement Portfolios?

Brown Brothers Harriman released the firm's ninth-annual global ETF investor survey last week, identifying trends and capturing sentiments of some 400 institutional investors, fund managers and financial advisors from the U.S., Europe and Greater China. Thirty-nine percent of respondents had more than $1 billion in assets under management, up from 30% in 2021. "2021 was a year of record growth, and 2022 looks set to follow suit as investors demonstrate their confidence in ETFs and increase their allocation across multiple strategies," Shawn McNinch, global head of ETF services at BBH, said in a statement. "With allocations rising across active, thematic and ESG strategies globally, it's evident that the depth of choice in the market continues to provide new portfolio opportunities for investors of all types." BBH noted that ETFs broke $10 trillion in assets under management and collected $1.2 trillion in flows through year-end 2021, citing ETFGI. According to Morningstar, much of that was driven by U.S. investors, who invested $3 into ETFs for every $1 in mutual funds, closing the gap between the two structures' usage. "While the mutual fund market asset base is still considerably larger than ETFs, the difference narrows each year and likely will continue to do so, especially as ETF flows remain strong, mutual fund to ETF conversions gain momentum and global retail markets grow," McNinch said. See the gallery for 10 ETF trends in 2022.