America vs Europe: a look at the growth in the ETF industry

The American ETF industry wasn't in lockdown over the first quarter of 2021. There were 77 new ETF launches and a majority of them were Active ETFs (52).

The USA remains the most dynamic region for ETF providers with 79% of global inflows going to American ETFs.

Source: Trackinsight (Q1, 2021)

Europe is late to the Active ETF party

Even though Active Equity ETFs grew fast over Q1 (+30.4%), the universe is still dominated by Fixed Income in America. They represent almost half (49%) of actively managed ETF assets as of the end of Q1 2021.

By contrast, Europe is a bit late to the Active ETF party. The European ETF industry continues to grow primarily on the back of index-tracking ETFs.

Passive ETF assets grew +6.6% over the first quarter, with 58 new launches. In the meantime, Active ETFs assets dropped 4.5% in the region. They now represent less than 2% of the total assets in European ETFs.

The rush out of Gold hit Europe harder

Like in America, several Gold ETFs have suffered from significant outflows in Europe over the first quarter of 2021. Furthermore, Commodity-based Active ETFs represents 41% of all Active ETFs in the EMEA region, explaining the drop in the total Active AuM in EMEA.

For more information on Active and Passive ETFs across the different regions, please download our 2023 Trackinsight Global ETF Survey.