It believes investors were spurred on by a risk rally set off by asset purchase initiatives from the ECB, the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.
Following the ECB’s announcement on 6 September that it was committed to buy short-term European sovereign debt, average daily flows across asset classes rose to $2.7bn, up more than 200% from the daily average of $0.8bn for July and August.
Developed equity market ETFs – particularly North American funds – were strong sellers in September to surpass comparable year-to-date flows for the category in 2011.
Fixed income products have also been one of the main drivers of growth, attracting 30% of all inflows with $54.1bn so far this year.
The September figures represented a significant improvement on the $11.6bn gathered in August and the $7.7bn achieved in September 2011. Total global assets under management have reached a new high of $1.85tn.