ETF outlook: Another boom year

In 2021, more and more private investors were caught up in the stock market fever, and this trend will continue in 2022, according to market observers. In addition to the broad market and ESG products, special themes such as digitalization and biotech are also in demand. 

4 January 2022. Frankfurt (Börse Frankfurt). "These ETF tips are worth cash", "ETF tips: How to earn a little more every month", plus a series with ETF pope Gerd Kommer - ETFs have arrived in the mainstream, even in the Bild newspaper. "Private investors are fully in the market," Frank Mohr of Société Générale also reports. Young people in particular have discovered the stock market for themselves, he says. "And most new customers are not interested in gambling, but in long-term saving and investing." That will continue to support the ETF market, he said.

ESG soon "quite normal

According to market observers, the trend toward sustainable ETFs is likely to continue or even increase. In 2021, ESG products accounted for €57.3 billion of the €110.2 billion in total inflows into equity ETFs in Europe (through the end of November), according to issuer Amundi - more than half. "This will remain a big theme," Mohr says.

Michael Jantzi, managing director of Morningstar subsidiary Sustainalytics, expects ESG to become increasingly "normal." In 2022, he says, while sustainability considerations will increase in financial disclosure, oversight, risk and regulatory frameworks, there won't be as much talk about ESG and sustainable finance. "Increasingly, we will refer to our work simply as investment or finance. There won't be a need for a prefix as sustainability becomes the norm."

Clean energy ETF among most traded

Of the more than 1,600 ETFs listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, 446 now account for more than a quarter of the sustainable category. These also account for an increasingly large share of trading. The iShares Global Clean Energy (IE00B1XNHC34) even ranks third on the list of 2021 most traded ETFs on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange - just behind the iShares Core DAX (DE0005933931) and the iShares Core MSCI World (IE00B4L5Y983). There was also an extreme amount of turnover in SRI variants of the MSCI World, particularly in the UBS MSCI World Socially Responsible (LU0629459743) and the iShares MSCI World SRI (IE00BYX2JD69).