In the first half of 2023, fixed income ETFs in Europe saw inflows hit €31bn, surpassing the previous record of €30.6bn in 2019, according to data from Morningstar Direct.
This trend has continued through the remainder of the year, with the total net assets for fixed income ETFs in Europe growing from €323.7bn in January to €355.3bn in October.
Travis Spence, head of EMEA ETF distribution at JP Morgan Asset Management, said these flows can be attributed to the highest yields seen in a generation, while Rohan Reddy, director of research at Global X ETFs, said the rise of fixed income ETFs has been instigated by the rising interest rate environment.
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"As rates are the underlying core driver of all bond yields, this led to a corresponding upswing in rates across all other debt instruments, including corporate, government and consumer debt," he said.
Rob Morgan, chief investment analyst at Charles Stanley, said that with interest rates topping out, or being very close to doing so, fixed income is now "very much back in play in portfolios".
"Investors are now able to harvest significantly higher yields from fixed income markets, be it government bonds or credit," he said.
Lorraine Sereyjol-Garros, global head of ETF and index sales at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said government bond ETFs offered a "safe haven" for investors in a time of uncertainty.
Meanwhile, James Yardley, senior research analyst at Chelsea Financial Services, said that fixed income ETFs offering access to sovereign bonds could be the "key" to unlocking an ETF boom in the UK.
Benefits of the wrapper
Active fixed income portfolios have not enjoyed the same levels of popularity as their passive peers, despite 2023 being dubbed the 'year of the bond' by experts in the closing months of 2022.
Fixed income ETFs took in more than 40% of net flows for UCITS ETF assets in both 2022 and year-to-date in 2023, despite representing just 25% of the market, Spence noted, who argued the popularity of these vehicles is also due to the benefits the ETF wrapper presents for the asset class.
Sereyjol-Garros said that an ETF that consists of a portfolio of bonds lowers costs because an ETF manager handles analysis and selection at the most attractive prices. Moreover, she said that bond ETFs did not face the same challenges as their active peers due to the precision and transparency they offer.
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"For an investor, holding an ETF means owning a liquid asset that can be traded more easily than all the constituents of the index that is being replicated. An ETF can be an efficient way to gain access to the bond market without all the complexities," she said.
Yardley noted the benefits of investing in bonds through the ETF wrapper stemmed not only from the low cost, but also the ability to select a specific point in the yield curve offered by the vehicle. This offers an opportunity for customisation in terms of duration and the way they contribute to investors' portfolios, he added.
Morgan said portfolios should have an "appropriate" mix of active and passive strategies, and the balance between the two can change based on market conditions.
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However, he said that given duration is such a significant factor in overall return from the asset class, particularly at this point in the cycle, it would be "no surprise" to see investors look to primarily harness that through "straightforward and low-cost" ETF exposure.
Morgan said a combination of ETFs to create the "right blend" of quality with appropriate duration is likely to provide a "solid core" in more cautiously-oriented portfolios, noting that investment grade credit and short-duration, high quality credit ETFs can act as a good "ballast" to portfolios, while outperforming cash.