Assets in actively managed ETFs top $1 tr worldwide

Assets in actively managed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) worldwide hit a record $1 trillion at the end of August, according to data provider ETFGI, boosted by easier regulations and a wave of product innovation, reports Reuters.

Active ETFs seek to outperform the indexes they are benchmarked to, including the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100 and the Russell 1000 Growth Index. Bear Stearns launched the first active ETF in 2008.

While they make up just 7 per cent of all global ETFs, active ETFs have accounted for 30 per cent of all inflows into the funds as a whole for the last several years, Matthew Bartolini, head of SPDR Americas Research at State Street Research, told Reuters in the latest episode of Inside ETFs.

A key growth catalyst, analysts said, was the 2019 regulation popularly known as the "ETF rule," which streamlined the complex process of winning approval for active ETFs from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Assets in the active ETF category have grown about 10-fold since 2019, according to data from ETF.com.