Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Canada attracted a record $52.5 billion of investor dollars in 2021.
BlackRock (BLK), Vanguard Group and two of Canada’s largest banks dominated the ETF industry last year. Total inflows came in at $52.5 billion, a 27% increase from a year earlier, as retail and institutional investors continue to turn to ETFs as their preferred savings vehicle.
More than half of the new money went to three groups. Bank of Montreal’s (BMO) ETF division topped the list with $9.6 billion, slightly ahead of RBC (RY) iShares, a partnership of Royal of Bank of Canada and BlackRock. Vanguard was third with $8.6 billion of inflows.
The big three ended the year with about 70% of the $323 billion in ETF assets under management in Canada.
The Canadian market was given a boost in 2021 when regulators allowed the creation of cryptocurrency ETFs. In total, cryptocurrency funds received close to $6 billion of inflows in Canada last year.
U.S. regulators have been more hesitant to sign off on cryptocurrency investment products, although the first Bitcoin-linked ETF listed in the U.S. made its debut last October.
