Market share of ETFs (exchange traded funds) continues to grow. Simple to understand, inexpensive and increasingly accessible, these investment supports initially appealed to professional investors. According to the latest publication from Morningstar, the inflows on the different categories of assets listed in Europe speak for themselves. Since the start of the year, in total, equity investments have attracted 88 billion euros. But in detail, index products captured 144 billion euros while actively managed funds saw an outflow of more than 56 billion. The divergence is less marked in other asset classes, but the trend is clear. All categories combined, passive management gained 195 billion over the first nine months of the year, more than double that of active management.
And it’s probably not over: according to a survey of professionals by manager WisdomTree, 30% of respondents plan to increase the share they devote to these investments in the next twelve months. Individuals could then take over: 22% of respondents believe that “adoption by the general public will be a key factor in the growth of ETFs in Europe in the next ten years”. Slowly, ETFs are making inroads into life insurance contracts and private banking and wealth management advisors. According to asset manager BlackRock, which is very dynamic in this market, growth will come mainly from young people, who favor digital platforms for investing.