US, tech-focused ETFs top performers as SMSFs invest millions
New money inflows propped up the ETF industry to a record month in May, supported again by consistent SMSF investment.
The industry’s FUM grew by $534 million or 1.4 per cent throughout the month of May, with 90 per cent of this coming from new money inflows as opposed to asset appreciation, according to BetaShares.
The best performing exposures for the month were small and mid cap US shares as well as technology ETFs.
“Similar to April, investors are still wary of how their assets are allocated, despite an improvement in the markets. Investor sentiment towards Australian equities remains mixed, illustrated by strong inflows into cash and fixed income products,” said chief executive of BetaShares Alex Vynokur.
According to BetaShares, SMSFs continue to bolster the industry after being early adopters from their Australian launch in 2001. At present, Investment Trends estimates about a third of the 315,000 ETF investors are SMSFs.
“We predict the number of SMSFs using ETFs to grow to over 136,000 by end of 2018 and to over 177,000 by end of 2019,” BetaShares head of strategy Ilan Israelstam told SMSF Adviser.
