Jon Howie, the head of iShares Australia, said the adoption of ETFs by SMSFs and individuals continued to grow within Australia in 2015.
Mr Howie said this reflected the efficiency of ETFs as “a way to build diversified investment portfolios”.
“This has boosted the liquidity of ETFs on the ASX, which in turn is contributing to greater institutional usage of ETFs in Australia,” he said.
BlackRock global head of iShares Mark Wiedman said that “despite lacklustre equity markets in 2015”, the ETF industry set a new record of growth of $347 billion.
“Institutional and retail investors are using ETFs more and more, whether as a tool to express a view on almost any financial market or for long-term core investments,” he said.
Bond ETFS in particular saw strong growth, said Mr Wiedman, at an organic growth rate of 22 per cent.
“Bond ETFs enable retail and institutional investors to access the bond markets at known, transparent prices and with impressive liquidity,” he said.
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