Canadian ETFs have put on a powerhouse performance this year, crossing the $200 billion mark by end November.

The National Bank of Canada’s report on Canadian ETF Flows for November 2019 is out.

Canadian ETF assets as at November 2019 were $200.44 billion:

For November, equities topped the tally of inflows at $ 2.1 billion, with fixed income following at $ 1.9 billion. However, for the 11 months to November 2019, fixed-income topped inflows with $ 12.62 billion, with equities following at $ 8.2 billion.

November was the best month this year for ETF inflows with $ 4.5 billion pouring in. The S&P/TSX composite index touched a fresh all-time high in late November, having put on more than 3% during the month.

Canadian ETFs: January to November 2019

The top four ETF’s for inflows were ($M):

The top four ETF’s for outflows were ($M):

Equity ETF flows by focus ($M):

(Top two)

• Cap-weighted ETF’s recorded inflows of $ 4808, while
• Low volatility factor funds saw inflows of $ 2362.

Fixed-income ETF flows by type ($M):

(Top three)

• Canada Aggregate $ 6037
• Foreign $ 2903
• HISA $ 2044

Outlook for Canadian ETF’s

Meanwhile, a survey of 106 advisors by Toronto-based ETF provider Evolve Funds Group Incorporated showed that clients preferred active ETF’s over passive funds.

According to the survey ETF’s will likely become a bigger part of Canadian portfolios because of lower fees, better liquidity, transparency and wider range of products.

Allocations to ETF’s would grow from 19% today to around 28% by 2021. 81% of advisors surveyed said they using active ETF’s compared to 66% for passive ETF’s. Whereas 40% were using smart beta strategies, only 8% said they did not include ETF’s in client portfolios.

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