Exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products listed globally gathered record net inflows of $63.6bn in June and $347.7bn over the first half of this year, according to research by ETF industry consultant ETFGI. This marks a significant increase compared to the net inflows of $123.5bn recorded over the first six months of 2016.

The $347.7bn flowing into ETFs/ETPs listed globally in the first half of 2017 mark a significant increase compared to the $123.5bn gathered over the same period last year.

Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered a record $41.2bn in net inflows in June, bringing year to date (YTD) net inflows to $242.7bn, far higher than the $15.8bn in net new money recorded over the same period last year.

Fixed income ETFs/ETPs also gathered a record level of $17.2bn in net inflows in June, growing YTD net inflows to a record level of $80.9bn, which is greater than the $68.0bn recorded over the same period last year.

Commodity ETFs/ETPs accumulated net inflows of $1.3bn in June. Year to date, net inflows are at $7.3bn, which is significantly less than the net inflows of $26.3bn gathered over the same period last year.

Strong performances across equity markets during the first half of the year have also helped the ETF/ETP industry reach a record high of $4.168 trillion in assets under management as of the end of June.

“Equities have performed well in the first half of 2017: the S&P 500 gained 9.3%, international equity markets outside the US were up 14.3% and emerging markets were up 16.7%,” said Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at ETFGI. “Political risks remain a focus for investors – the ability of the Trump administration to move forward on policy goals, Brexit negotiations, and North Korea are all still areas of concern.”

BlackRock gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in June with $28.8bn, followed by Vanguard with $13.4bn and SPDR ETFs with $6.7bn.

BlackRock was also the most successful gatherer of YTD net inflows, pulling in $140.8bn which is above the $137.9bn gathered in all of 2016. The firm’s iShares range of ETFs recently surpassed $1.5tn in AUM. Vanguard came second with $82.3bn in YTD net inflows followed by Schwab ETFs with $13.4bn.

As of the end of June, the global ETF/ETP industry had 6,965 ETFs/ETPs, with 13,125 listings from 328 providers listed on 70 exchanges in 56 countries.