ETF Assets Grow $49 Billion in April

ETF assets grew to $531 billion in April, up $49 billion or 10% according to State Street Global Advisors.

Underlying indices were mostly higher in April with the S&P 500 up 9.6%, MSCI EAFE up 13.0% and the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Index up 0.5%.  The Barclays Capital U.S. Treasury Index fell 1.8% and gold was down 3.7%.

Domestic equity ETFs saw strong growth in small and mid-cap funds which were up 20%.  Financial, consumer discretionary, industrial and material sectors were all up more than 10% in April while health care and utilities were flat.

Another bright spot was real estate.  The Dow Jones REIT index rose 32% in April, helping the REIT ETF category grow $1.4 billion or 33.6% in April.