The Australian ETF industry has witnessed the end of a six-month hot streak as assets dipped for the first time since October 2023.
According to Betashares’ latest Australian ETF review, ETF industry assets fell 0.9 per cent month-on-month for a total monthly market cap decline of $1.7 billion in April.
Funds under management stood at $195 billion, down from $196.7 billion in March.
Industry flows, while positive, remained muted against market volatility, notching $1.2 billion of net flows for the month.
“Positive ETF inflows were not enough to offset global sharemarket declines, causing Australian ETF industry assets to dip during April,” Betashares stated.
International equities comprised over half of the industry’s net flows at $544 million, though this was down from $834 million in flows in March.
Australian equities, too, remained in favour and received $317 million, followed by fixed income at $236 million.
Following a slow month in terms of fund launches, with no funds launching or closing in March, the last month saw a considerable 11 new offerings on the market, including eight active ETF launches.
According to Betashares’ report, the best-performing ETFs for April were short funds and energy transition metals exposures, such as copper.
The Global X Ultra Short Nasdaq 100 Hedge Fund emerged as the top performer, returning 11.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Betashares Geared Short US Treasury Bond Fund-Currency Hedged (Hedge Fund) returned 11.5 per cent and the Global X Copper Miners ETF and the Betashares US Equities Strong Bear Currency Hedged (Hedge Fund) returned 10.5 per cent.
The top five funds were rounded off by the Betashares Energy Transition Metals ETF which returned 10.4 per cent.
Interestingly, this marked the first month since January that crypto ETFs did not feature among the top performers, with the Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF and Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF having proved popular in the first quarter of 2024.
