ETFs/ETPs in Asia-Pacific ex-Japan see US$2.42b net inflows in Feb

EXCHANGE-TRADED funds or products (ETF/ETPs) listed in the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) gathered net inflows of US$2.42 billion in February 2016, going by a latest report by research firm ETFGI.

Of these, equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows with US$1.28 billion, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with US$507 million, and commodity ETFs/ETPs with US$474 million.

In the first two months of 2016, ETFs/ETPs listed in the same region gathered US$6.41 billion - a "record level", according to the report released on Monday.

The Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) ETF industry had 817 ETFs/ETPs, with 960 listings, assets of US$108 billion - from 115 providers listed on 18 exchanges in 14 countries at the end of February 2016.

Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at ETFGI, said: "February was another volatile month for equity markets. The S&P 500 closed the month down 0.13 per cent. Despite recent uncertainty, emerging markets gained 0.31 per cent in February, while developed markets outside of the US declined one per cent."