European ETFs Attract €39.8 Billion in April

European exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded commodities attracted €39.8 billion in net inflows in April, Morningstar’s monthly snapshot shows. Equity ETFs took in €29.2 billion, bond ETFs €7.8 billion, and total European ETF and ETC assets rose above €3 trillion.

The April inflows marked a rebound from March, when European-listed ETFs and ETCs recorded €8.6 billion of net inflows and bond ETFs posted €2.4 billion of outflows.

Equity demand in April was driven by global developed-market strategies, and US-focused equity products regained investor interest after a period of weakness. Morningstar’s senior principal Jose Garcia-Zarate described April as “a clear reset in investor sentiment” and added that flows favored broad global equity exposure.

Bond ETF inflows were concentrated in government debt, which made up the bulk of the €7.8 billion and fully offset March’s bond outflows.

Precious metals ETCs reversed a first-quarter run of redemptions, drawing €2.7 billion in April, largely into physical gold. The iShares Physical Gold ETC alone netted about €1.5 billion.

Active ETFs gathered just under €3.0 billion in April, up from €2.6 billion in March. For the second consecutive month, Schroders was the top active manager, with roughly €400 million flowing into its four active ETF offerings.

The data cover European-listed ETF and ETC products and reflect net new money rather than changes due to market price moves.