EUROPE – Assets under management in exchange traded funds listed in Europe rose by 17.1% in April, according to the latest research by Morgan Stanley.

ETF assets rose 8.2% in the US, but declined by 9.1% in Japan. It said that average daily trading volume decreased 12% in number of shares from 192 million shares to 169 million. Volumes were also down in dollar terms, down to 8.1 billion dollars from 8.8 billion dollars – an eight percent fall.

ETFs are securities that track indices but have the flexibility of trading like a stock.

In the year to date, Morgan Stanley said, assets under management for ETFs listed in Europe have increased by 29.9%.

“Year to date, through the end of April average daily trading volume increased by 18% in terms of number of shares and 30% in US dollar volume.”

It said that there are now 283 ETFs with 373 listings on 27 exchanges around the world. Europe and the US each now have 116. Europe has the largest number of managers: 14, followed by the US with seven and then Japan and Korea, which each have four managers.

Separately, Barclays Global Investors’ iShares has announced that it has launched the UK’s first fixed income ETFs. The iShares GS $ InvesTop Corporate Bond Fund and the iBoxx € Liquid Corporates Fund will begin trading on the London Stock Exchange from today. “A Sterling Bond Fund is planned for the autumn, subject to regulatory and listing approval,” it added.

“Bond iShares will give investors diversified and transparent access to highly liquid investment grade corporate bonds from the US, Europe and the UK at an annual total expense ratio (TER) as low as just 0.20%,” iShares said.

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