iShares MSCI Japan ETF Tops September Best-Selling List

Investors poured €724 million into the iShares MSCI Japan UCITS ETF last month, the best-selling ETF in September, according to new data from Lipper, as returns reach over 12 percent year to date.

After the markets went into freefall on 24 August, most of the ETF’s returns in Europe YTD are in the red, but this bright spot from iShares ensured that it gained three quarters of a billion euros in just one month. This £1.8 billion ETF is also up over 14 percent over three years and more than 6 percent over five years, and has lured in healthy investment despite a relatively high price tag of 0.59 percent.

These inflows made up a significant proportion – 28.5 percent – of overall flows last month.

The Japanese equity sector in Europe ETFs holds €34.3 billion, and is only beaten by US equity (€57 billion) and Eurozone equity (€42.9 billion).

The second best-selling ETF in September saw inflows of almost €400 million – the iShares Euro Stoxx 50 (DE) ETF – and continues the trend of European equites taking preference over US equities as investors anticipate rising interest rates from the Fed. It has returned 11.45 percent YTD.

Overall assets under management in European ETFs declined from €432.7 billion to €428 billion in September, which was mainly driven by a decline in market performance.