Two Betashares exchange-traded funds focused on quality investing have surpassed $1 billion in funds under management, buoyed by strong investor demand for strategies targeting companies with resilient earnings and strong balance sheets.
The Betashares Australian Quality ETF (AQLT) and Betashares Global Quality Leaders ETF (QLTY) recently crossed the $1 billion mark, with the firm reporting net inflows of $325 million and $92 million, respectively, since the start of the year.
The milestone comes amid growing interest from investors and financial advisers in rules-based strategies designed to identify companies with durable fundamentals across Australian and international equity markets.
“AQLT and QLTY each passing $1 billion in funds under management is a positive milestone, and the flows we’ve seen so far this year tell us a lot about how investors are positioning their equity portfolios,” Betashares senior investment strategist Cameron Gleeson said.
“With AQLT attracting $325 million in net inflows and QLTY attracting $92 million since the start of the year, investors and their financial advisers are increasingly seeking quality-focused exposures across both Australian and global sharemarkets.”
AQLT invests in Australian companies selected using measures such as return on equity, leverage and earnings stability, while QLTY applies a similar approach to global shares outside Australia, incorporating factors including debt-to-capital ratios, cash flow generation and earnings consistency.
Betashares said the growth of the funds reflected a broader shift towards investment styles that seek to balance long-term return potential with portfolio resilience.
Gleeson said quality investing had become an increasingly important component of portfolio construction as investors looked for companies capable of generating sustainable earnings through different market conditions.
The two ETFs provide exposure to quality-focused portfolios through a transparent, rules-based structure and offer a return profile that differs from traditional market capitalisation-weighted benchmarks, he said.
“The growth of these funds also reflects the broader evolution of ETF investing in Australia,” Gleeson said.
“Investors are using ETFs not only for broad market index exposure, but increasingly to access targeted investment styles that can help improve portfolio resilience and long-term return potential.”
While quality investing has long been used by institutional investors to identify companies with durable fundamentals, Gleeson said the ETF structure had helped make the approach accessible to a wider range of investors.
