European ETFs: Amundi loses ground to DWS, Vanguard in Q2
DWS, Vanguard and State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) saw strong ETF inflows in Q2 as demand for core equities remained solid.
According to data from ETFbook, investors piled $59.1 billion into European-listed ETFs in the previous quarter, up from $49.4 billion in Q1, as bullish sentiment for risk assets continued.
BlackRock captured $23.4 billion inflows over the quarter, the most across all ETF issuers, taking its overall assets under management (AUM) to $880 billion.
In particular, the iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF (CSPX) saw $3.8 billion inflows, the most across all European ETFs, while investors poured a combined $4.2 billion into the iShares MSCI USA ESG Enhanced UCITS ETF (EEDS) and the iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF (SWDA).
DWS pulled in the second-highest ETF inflows in Q2. The German asset manager’s $7.4 billion inflows drove its AUM to $217 billion, a 10.5% share of the $2 trillion European market.
Ongoing demand for the Xtrackers EUR Overnight Rate Swap UCITS ETF (XEON), which captured $2 billion inflows in Q2, was a key driver of the firm’s strong quarter.
Vanguard ETF Flows Show Strong Demand
It was also another positive three months for Vanguard which pulled in $5.9 billion inflows amid strong demand for its global equity and short-duration U.S. Treasury ETFs, in particular.
Alongside DWS, the U.S. giant has been a standout performer this year as investor demand for core ETF exposures in Europe continues to grow.
SSGA’s decision to slash the fee on its SPDR S&P 500 UCITS ETF (SPY5) to 0.03% last October is the driver behind the asset manager’s strong performance this quarter.
The firm saw $5.5 billion inflows in Q2 as SPY5 pulled in $2.5 billion net new assets, the second highest across European ETFs.
Meanwhile, Amundi continued to struggle versus its rivals following the acquisition of Lyxor. Europe’s largest asset manager saw $4.9 billion inflows in Q2, driving its AUM to $254 billion.
VanEck Growth in Europe
Across the smaller players in the market, VanEck was a standout performer, with $1.1 billion inflows over the quarter.
The U.S. asset manager crossed the $10bn AUM milestone in European ETFs in May, a significant moment for the firm which launched its first ETFs in 2015 before acquiring ThinkETF in January 2018.
At the other end of the spectrum, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) continued its torrid start to the year, with $1.2 billion outflows, the most across all European ETF issuers.
The UK asset manager has struggled from waning demand for ESG this year as investors pulled $1.2 billion from its L&G US ESG Exclusions Paris Aligned UCITS ETF (RIUS) over the quarter.
WisdomTree also had a challenging quarter amid waning demand for commodity ETPs. The specialist saw $790 million outflows amid significant outflows from its copper and physical silver ETCs.
This article was first published in etf.com's sister publication ETF Stream.