Investors pump record sums into bond and ‘quality’ stock ETFs

Exchange traded fund investors pumped record sums into fixed income and “quality” stocks last year as risk appetite jumped in the final months of 2023. However inflation-linked bond funds and broad commodity ETFs experienced record outflows as sliding global inflation tempered investors’ desire to hedge against its corrosive effect on asset prices. Overall, the global ETF industry recorded net inflows of $965bn last year, according to data from BlackRock, up from $867bn in 2022. This was the second-highest figure on record, behind 2021’s $1.3tn. “It’s interesting to see it compare to 2021, even though we had so many rate hikes,”…