iShares Captures 31% of Global ETF Flows in 2014

Blackrock has announced that its iShares business accumulated $102.8 billion in new flows in 2014. While both iShares’ U.S. and European product lines have contributed to the increase, the American side of the business is reported to have dominated takings, achieving a record annual total of $82.8 billion in new assets. This represents more than a 33% increase on the previous record of $62.0 billion in 2012 and is equivalent to the total of newly captured European business in 2014, where net new flows amounted to $20.3 billion.

The new record coincides with recent figures from research firm ETFGI detailing the surpassing of $2 trillion in total assets by U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds and products alone in December last year.

“iShares growth this year was driven by two global product lines,” says Mark Wiedman, global head of iShares at BlackRock. “Clients from Asia and Latin American continue to use both our U.S. and European ETF suite in record numbers, contributing $19.8 billion in net new assets through November 30th.”

“We’re seeing ETFs truly come of age as more investors around the world recognize and embrace the versatility of these vehicles,” he adds. “ETFs have also been discovered by capital market participants, who are using them as efficient substitutes for futures and swaps.”

Fixed income was a fundamental driver of flows globally, says Wiedman. “Investors of all kinds are increasingly adopting ETFs as an essential instrument for accessing the bond markets. iShares captured US$40.3 billion globally or 48% of all new flows into fixed income ETFs.”

By the end of 2014, iShares global AUM had exceeded $1 trillion.