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From Kirsten Bischoff, Opalesque New York:

While investors added $86bn to hedge funds during 2010 (according to HFN), US based ETFs saw assets surge by $186bn during 2010 bringing total ETF assets to $891bn (according to year end reporting by BlackRock). Firms eager to participate in the growing number of allocations to ETFs brought 173 new ETF vehicles to market (with the industry losing only 49 through the year).

More than one-third of the funds that were allocated into ETFs during 2010 were funneled to BlackRock through the firm’s ETF funds arm. According to BlackRock’s reporting, iShares continues to dominate the ETF market, holding almost half of the industry’s asset base across the firm’s 216 ETFs. Globally, ETFs were just as popular, the industry grew by 26% and iShares maintains its dominance even in the global arena with a 44% market share.

2010 ETF trends Over 1000 hedge funds utilize ETFs for their strategy, representing 4% of the ETF asset base, and iShares continues to expect their participation in the industry to grow.

Representing a much larger asset base are institutional investors, which have begun dipping their toes into the ETF pools in earnest. Approximately 14% of institutional investors utilize ETFs, mainly for “tactical tasks” related to their portfolio. Although only a small fraction of these investors utilize ETFs they still represent half of all US ETF assets. A recent survey by Greenwich Associates show......................

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