It appears investors have been sticking to familiar territory in September when investing via exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with popular choices involving the FTSE 100 and the S&P 500.

ETFs are desirable for investors looking to match - rather than beat - the performance of indexes or physical assets such as commodities for a cheaper price than actively managed funds.

According to data from Youinvest, investors appear to be drawn by well-established offerings from iShares owner BlackRock and Vanguard.

Popular ETFs include BlackRock’s iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (ISF). The FTSE 250 is also in demand with investors choosing iShares FTSE 250 ETF (MIDD) or Vanguard’s FTSE 250 (VMID) offering.

Outside of the UK indexes, top choices include the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VUSA) and iShares Core MSCI World (IWRD).

The S&P 500 offers exposure to the 500 biggest US publicly traded companies while the broader MSCI World index represents large and mid-caps equities across 23 developed market countries.

SHORT STRATEGY ETFS OUT OF VOGUE

Looking at the most sold ETFs over September, leveraged ETFs look to be getting less popular. L&G’s FTSE 100 Super Short Strategy (SUK2) makes the list.

Since hitting a year-to-date high of 7,859, the FTSE 100 has fallen 7.3% to 7,285.

L&G’s ETF allows investors to make bigger gains or losses depending on the extent that the index rises or falls.

For example, if the underlying index falls by 5% on a particular day, the tracked index is designed to increase in value by 10%.

L&G DAX Daily 2x Short ETF (DES2) and ETFS 3x Daily Long FTSE 100 (UK3L) are also in the firing line.

Interestingly, iShares Core MSCI EM IMI UCITS ETF (EIMI), which reflects the return of the MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index, is among the biggest bought and sold ETFs.

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Issue Date: 08 Oct 2018