Assets invested in ETFs/ETPs globally are just shy of the $3 trillion mark, having reached a new record high of $2.92 trillion at the end of February 2015, according to data from ETFGI.

The first ever ETF listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange 25 year ago. (Photo © nodomain.cc)

There were $50.7 billion in net new asset inflows in February, the second largest month on record.

Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows with $30.4 billion, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with $15.6 billion and commodity ETFs/ETPs with $2.9 billion.

iShares gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in February with $19.9 billion, followed by Vanguard with $5.9 billion and SPDR ETFs with $4.3 billion.

On a year-to-date basis, iShares has gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows with $26.9 billion, followed by Vanguard with $15.7 billion and WisdomTree with $6.8 billion.

ETFGI expects assets to break through the $3 trillion milestone within the next three months.

The record high coincides with the 25th anniversary of the listing of what is widely regarded as very first exchange-traded fund, the Toronto 35 Index Participation Fund, known as TIPS, which launched on the Toronto Stock Exchange on 9 March 1990.

“Twenty-five years marks an important milestone for the ETF industry which has grown significantly on many measures. ETFs have become a democratic investment tool and solution that are used by institutional investors, financial advisors and retail investors around the world to allow them to easily, transparently and at a lower cost than many other financial gain access to many asset classes and to developed, emerging and frontier markets”, said Deborah Fuhr, managing partner of ETFGI.

The TIPS ETF does not exist in its original form as it was merged on 7 March, 2000 with the HIPs (Hundred Index Participation Fund) tracking the TSX 100 index into the iUnits S&P/TSE Index Participation Fund (XIU), which has since been renamed the iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF (XIU). Today, this fund has more than C$11 billion in assets.

Twenty-five years on from the first ETF, there are 5,632 ETFs/ETPs globally, with 10,902 listings, from 245 providers listed on 63 exchanges in 51 countries.