May 2012 saw record inflows to fixed income exchange-traded products, according to BlackRock.

Fixed income ETPs gained net new assets of US$11 billion last month, out of total inflows to ETPs of US$19.2 billion, reports BlackRock, which attributes the rising demand for bond trackers to economic uncertainty in the eurozone and China.  Bond ETPs worldwide have now gained net inflows for seventeen consecutive months, says the firm.

Within the fixed income segment, high-yield bond funds saw net outflows of US$1.3 billion in May, however, the first month of redemptions from this asset class since November.

Exceptionally strong flows during May into two new funds tracking Chinese equities, the Huatai-Pinebridge and Harvest Shanghai and Shenzhen CSI 300 ETFs, compensated for outflows from other emerging market trackers. US$8.3 billion of net new cash flows into these two funds more than offset US$5 billion of redemptions from other emerging market equity ETFs.

In 2012 to date, Vanguard’s US-listed MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has seen the largest inflows of all global ETPs, with over US$6.4 billion of new cash invested. Vanguard also tops the table for ETF inflows by issuer so far in 2012, having attracted over US$28 billion into its US-listed range of funds. The firm recently expanded its ETF offering to include Europe-listed funds.

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