Global exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been drawing in investors , and that trend does not appear to be slowing, according to figures from the Investment Company Institute. Overall, ETF assets have been booming, with combined assets of all ETFs reaching $252.32 billion in July 2005, an impressive 4% increase from the previous month.
Most impressive was the rise in international equity ETFs, an 8% bump from $40.7 billion at the end of June to $44.0 billion at the end of July. Furthermore, that figure represents a whopping 30.1% increase from $33.6 billion at the end of 2004.
Equity index ETFs increased to $239.21 billion from $230.24, as bond ETFs increased by $689 billion to $13.11 billion. Domestic equity assets grew by $5.7 billion, a 3% nudge up over the previous month.
In the month of July, the value of ETF shares cashed in outnumbered the number of shares issued by $703 million, and equity index ETFs had a negative net issuance of $1.59 billion, yet the positives outweighed the negatives.
