ETF growth remains strong in the U.S. and Canada

Article Excerpt

Inflows into the ETF universe remain strong. So far this year, Canadian ETFs have attracted net inflows (that is inflows minus outflows) of $10.8 billion. That represents a 9% increase over the same period last year. In the U.S., net inflows amounted to $68.1 billion through the end of May. The ETFs with the lowest expense ratios still tend to attract the most investment. A good example is the top gainer in the U.S. market, the Vanguard 500 Index ETF (New York symbol VOO) which has attracted $7 billion so far this year. The fund charges just 0.03%. Another top gainer was the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (New York symbol IVV). It charges only 0.04%. In contrast, a direct competitor of these funds, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (New York symbol SPY), which charges 0.09% and had outflows of almost $19 billion. The total ETF assets offered by Canadian providers amounted to $178 billion by the end of May 2019. That is 13.4% higher than a year ago. The biggest providers in this country…