ETFs: Calm after the storm
Although prices have not yet fully recovered, ETF trading has returned to normal. Mostly it's about the DAX, Nasdaq & Co - or tech stocks.
13 August 2024. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). The strong wave of selling has also been followed by a wave of buying in ETF trading. "We had a lot of buying, especially last Tuesday," reports Andreas Schröer from Lang & Schwarz. After that, however, business calmed down very quickly. Turnover is now rather low - across all asset classes. "Normal summer business is back," says Ivo Orlemann from ICF Bank, describing the situation.
The stock markets have recovered after the sharp price losses around the weekend before last, but are still well below their recent highs. The DAX stood at 17,780 points at midday on Tuesday, still some way below its record of 8,893 points. The Nasdaq 100 stood at 18,534 points yesterday evening after reaching a high of 20,748 points.
Major indices remain favorites
It is mainly about the major indices, DAX, Nasdaq 100 or Stoxx Europe 600, as Orlemann reports. He sees buys and sells for the Deka DAX (DE000ETFL011), the Deka Stoxx Europe Strong Growth 20 (DE000ETFL037) and the Amundi Nasdaq 100 (LU1829221024). However, a lot is also being invested in Invesco ETFs on the MSCI World (IE00B60SX394), the MSCI USA (IE00B60SX170) and the Stoxx Europe 600 (IE00B60SWW18). Lang & Schwarz also focuses on the major indices and tech stocks. The iShares S&P 500 Information Technology (IE00B3WJKG14), for example, is the most popular buy.
The VanEck Defense (IE000YYE6WK5) and VanEck Uranium and Nuclear Technologies (IE000M7V94E1) continue to be sought after by ICF clients. "Demand is independent of market developments," explains Orlemann.
Also popular according to Schröer, especially among traders: the triple-leveraged DAX short ETN from WisdomTree (IE00B8GKPP93) or Nasdaq ETNs of the issuer, sometimes long, sometimes short, (IE00BLRPRL42, IE00BLRPRJ20).
Mohr
AI focus disappoints. AI equities have - at least so far - not delivered the hoped-for additional returns. This is the conclusion of a study by Scope Fund Analysis, which looked at active and passive funds with a focus on AI equities, as well as funds that use AI for their investment decisions. The 22 funds in the most relevant peer group, global technology equities, have performed slightly worse than broadly diversified tech funds over the past twelve months (29 versus 29.5 percent), according to the study. Over three years, they generated a higher return than conventional technology funds at 5 percent versus 4.4 percent p.a.; over five years, the increase in value was almost identical. Incidentally, actively managed funds performed significantly better than ETFs over a twelve-month period. "It is conceivable that active funds recognized the momentum of certain stocks more quickly in this hot topic and acted accordingly," suspects Scope analyst László Zoltán Harsányi. In contrast, AI ETFs have performed better over three and five years. The use of AI in the investment process did not produce an excess return either.
Money market ETFs in demand - focus on copper, oil and gold
In trading with bond ETFs, Schröer is seeing increased purchases of money market trackers.
The recent rise in the price of copper after weeks of falling prices is also leading to more trading in products based on the copper price. Also in demand: ETCs on WTI oil with leverage 3 (IE00BMTM6B32). Orlemann sees particular interest in gold price ETCs, such as the WisdomTree Physical Gold (<DE000A0N62G0>).
By Anna-Maria Borse, 13 August 2024, © Deutsche Börse AG
About the Author
Anna-Maria Borse is a financial and business editor specializing in the financial market/stock exchange and economic topics.
Feedback and questions to redaktion@deutsche-boerse.com.
Borse
Deutsche Börse 
