Based on the Scotia ETF EDGE reports from August 5 to August 30, spanning a four-week period, Canadian ETFs saw an inflow of $3.04 billion. Equity ETFs topped the month with net creations of $4.1 billion with inflows in fixed income accounting for $0.67 billion. Cash experienced a drop of $0.45 billion whereas the previous month had inflows. Crypto remained steady with another month of net creations of over $90 million.
August was a rocky month with a plunge in global shares. The volatility blowout started with the Central Bank of Japan raising rates, which caused the unwinding of the global carry trade. Panic selling ensued at the beginning of the month that was predominantly related to Asia and what happened with Japanese assets crashing over the course of the weekend.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had expressed support for an imminent policy adjustment at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium on August 23rd. He stated that “the time has come” for lower interest rates, which sets the stage for a cycle of cuts in the federal funds rates, beginning in September.
The CrownStrike IT outage proved to be a buying opportunity as CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (CRWD-Nasdaq) rebounded with an August price change of 19.5%. After finishing as one of the worst performers in the S&P 500 during July, the company bounced back in August to rank as one of the index’s top ten gainers.
The markets may have started August badly, but they eventually recovered as the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record close again. The S&P 500 also ended with a monthly gain. The high valuation of the U.S. market continues to be driven by the usual level of concentration in the tech-related companies.
BlackRock and BMO ETFs held some of the highest rankings for flows in both directions. The iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF (XIU-T) took the top spot in inflows with $0.59 billion, while the iShares Core S&P/TSX Capped Composite ETF (XIC-T) felt the largest sting with withdrawals amounting to $0.61 billion. The BMO Aggregate Bond Index ETF (ZAG-T) and BMO Gold Bullion ETF (ZGLD-T) experienced the inflows of $0.54 billion each, while the BMO Equal Weight Banks Index ETF (ZEB-T) held the second largest capital departure with $0.51 billion. Although declining yields added further gains to bonds, the S&P 500 ended August with another winning month.
Additions
In August, the Canadian market witnessed the introduction of 24 new ETFs, most of which were issued by Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. and Invesco Ltd.
Harvest ETFs
Harvest launched their fleet of High Income Shares ETFs, which are essentially single stock ETFs that offer exposure to U.S. companies and overlayed with an active covered call strategy, seeking high monthly income. The Enhanced version of the High Income series offers the same stocks with modest leverage for higher potential returns and more income. The Class A and U units will provide investors with the opportunity to invest in some of the most widely held stocks, namely Amazon (AMHE-T, AMZH-T) (AMHE-U-T, AMZH-U-T), Microsoft (MSFH-T, MSHE-T) (MSFH-U-T, MSHE-U-T), NVIDIA (NVDH-T, NVHE-T) (NVDH-U-T, NVHE-U-T), and Eli Lilly (LLHE-T, LLYH-T) (LLHE-U-T, LLYH-U-T).
Invesco ETFs
Invesco added four new actively managed ETFs.
Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Income Advantage ETF (EQLI-T) and Invesco NASDAQ 100 Income Advantage ETF (QQCI-T) seeks to generate income and capital growth by investing in securities that track the ETF’s respective index, while utilizing an income strategy to obtain a consistent monthly yield. The manager has agreed to waive the management fee until at least February 28, 2025 for both funds.
Invesco Canadian Core Plus Bond ETF (ICCB-T) and Invesco Global Bond ETF (ICGB-T) primarily invest in investment-grade debt securities issued by the Canadian governments, corporations, and other issuers. These ETFs offer growth and diversification while preserving capital.
Other ETF Launches
CI U.S. Aggregate Bond Covered Call ETF (CCBD-T) invests in fixed income securities comprised of U.S. government bonds and high-quality U.S. corporate bonds, coupled with the use of the covered call option strategy which aims to generate additional income via call option premiums
Russell Investments Global Equity Pool (RIGE-T) primarily invests in global company shares using various styles such as market-oriented, value, growth, quality, and small capitalization.
PIMCO Canadian Core Bond Fund (CORE-T) primarily invests in a diversified mix of investment-grade fixed income securities with different maturities, including government of Canada bonds, provincial bonds, and corporate debt.
Hamilton U.S. Bond Yield Maximizer ETF (HBND-U-NE) offers high monthly income through exposure to bonds issued under the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
Amy Mak, is senior financial analyst at Inovestor.
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