Actively managed exchange-traded funds listed globally saw net inflows totaling $14.3 billion last month bringing their year-to-date net inflows through Feb. 28 to $24.9 billion, their second-highest start to a year on record, according to ETFGI.
The year-to-date inflows are second behind the $32.8 billion that flowed in during the comparable period in 2021, according to a news release Thursday by ETFGI, a research and consultancy firm that covers trends in global ETFs.
February marked the 35th consecutive month of net inflows for actively managed ETFs listed globally. The month's $14.3 billion of inflows came despite equity market declines, the news release said, citing the S&P 500 index's 2.4% decline in February among examples.
"Retail investors and financial advisors like the flexibility and tax advantage active ETFs in the U.S. offer," said Deborah Fuhr, managing partner and founder of ETFGI, in an email.
Equity-focused actively managed ETFs listed globally saw net inflows of nearly $8.1 billion in February, bringing their year-to-date net inflows to $17.5 billion, higher than the $9.3 billion of net inflows that were gathered for the same period in 2022, ETFGI said.
Fixed-income focused actively managed ETFs listed globally had $6.1 billion of net inflows during February, bringing their year-to-date net inflows to nearly $7.6 billion, sightly lower than the roughly $8.2 billion that flowed in during the first two months of 2022.
"Many investors were allocating money to fixed-income exposures where often the products are actively managed," Ms. Fuhr said.
A substantial portion of February's net inflows can be attributed to the top 20 active ETFs/exchange-traded products by net new assets, which collectively gathered about $8.5 billion during the month, the release said. The roughly $21 billion JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF gathered $1.9 billion, the largest individual net inflow.