European UCITS ETFs draw €36.4bn in May

Amundi reported that European-domiciled UCITS ETFs attracted €36.4bn of net new assets in May. Monthly flows were 35% higher than May 2025 and slightly above April’s €35.5bn. The firm said the market rebounded after March, when inflows fell to €10.6bn amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Equity ETFs accounted for €24.4bn of May inflows. All-country world funds drew €11.2bn. US equity ETFs collected €7.7bn, a 30% increase on April, with information technology the largest sector at €1.6bn. Thematic demand focused on AI-related semiconductors (€1.1bn) and infrastructure (€553m). European equity ETFs posted net outflows. Emerging market funds added €1.3bn and Japanese equity ETFs gained €736m, a 13% month-on-month rise.

Fixed income ETFs added €11.8bn in May, bringing year-to-date net inflows to about €40bn, the strongest start to a year on record for the asset class. Government bond ETFs led with €4.5bn, followed by investment-grade credit at €3.2bn. Money market ETFs attracted €1.7bn. High-yield credit net new assets rose to €1.1bn, up 60% versus April.

Demand in US government debt skewed to ultra-short duration products, which collected €811m. Amundi noted investors continued to weigh uncertainty around inflation, growth and the Federal Reserve’s policy path when setting duration exposures.

ESG-labelled products produced mixed results in May. ESG equity funds drew €5.3bn, while ESG fixed income inflows slowed to €2.8bn, roughly a quarter of total fixed income flows. Amundi said many broad global equity ETFs now offer ESG-screened or ESG-tilted share classes, so some sustainable demand is being met through diversified products rather than dedicated ESG strategies.

Amundi described May flows as showing a preference for diversification, liquidity and flexible building blocks, with equity allocations tilted to US large caps and technology and fixed income allocations tilted to higher-yielding credit and short-duration exposures.