European ETF inflows hit $44 billion in October

Europe-domiciled ETFs drew $44 billion of net new assets in October, the seventh consecutive month above $40 billion, according to Invesco's ETF Snapshot, reported by ETF Express.

Equity ETFs attracted $28 billion in October, with global equity exposures accounting for $13 billion. Year-to-date net new assets stand at $433 billion, past the full-year record set in 2025. European equities kept attracting money. US equity demand slowed, which Invesco attributed to concerns about AI exposure.

For advisors building Europe-domiciled model portfolios, October's bond ETF flows were defensive: US Treasury ETFs took $3.6 billion and euro cash management ETFs $2.3 billion. Total bond ETF inflows rose to $15 billion from $9.1 billion in September, a 65% jump.

October's dispersion is the snapshot's argument for equal weighting. The S&P 500 fell 0.9% and the MSCI World 0.8%, while their equal-weighted counterparts gained 5% and 2%. The top ten stocks account for almost 40% of the S&P 500, and the technology sector more than 50% of the index's total risk, against no single sector above 20% in the equal-weighted version. Invesco wrote in the snapshot: "The risk off moves in the market in October made it abundantly clear just how much concentration risk investors are exposed to in certain well known market cap weighted indices."

Equal-weight ETFs have drawn $8.3 billion year-to-date, including $0.5 billion in October. As ETF Daily previously reported, equal-weight S&P 500 exposure beat the cap-weighted index by about 6 points in October.

Yields on short-dated US investment-grade credit would need to rise by nearly 300 basis points over 12 months to produce a loss. For 30-year US Treasuries, the figure is just over 35 basis points, according to the snapshot. Invesco argues short-dated government bond ETFs could offer a way to earn more than cash management while limiting exposure to interest-rate volatility.