Xetra ETF statistics 2023: Bond ETFs and active ETFs on an upward trend

• Invested assets in the ETF segment on Xetra rise by 26 per cent to a new record of EUR 1.29 trillion
• Continued high listing activity expands product range by 123 to 2,125 ETFs
• Xetra continues to be Europe’s largest ETF exchange in terms of number of products listed and trading volume

The market for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Xetra continued to record a high level of investor interest last year: ETF fund assets reached a new high of EUR 1.29 trillion, an increase of 26 per cent (2022: EUR 1.02 trillion). In the same period, the product range on Xetra expanded by 123 ETFs to a new record of 2,125 ETFs (2022: 2,002 ETFs). Against a backdrop of lower market volatility, overall ETF trading activity across Europe declined last year, resulting in an ETF trading volume of EUR 169.5 billion for Xetra (2022: EUR 232.8 billion). With this volume, Xetra was once again the ETF trading venue with the highest turnover among all European exchanges.

Bond ETFs benefit from changed interest rate environment

One of the standout trends in the past year was the positive development of fixed income ETFs. “Bond ETFs have clearly benefited from the turnaround in interest rates,” says Stephan Kraus, head of Deutsche Börse’s ETF & ETP segment. “Last year, for the first time in more than ten years, a bond product was among the most traded ETFs on Xetra. Money market ETFs are thus increasingly establishing themselves as an alternative to traditional overnight money accounts,” Kraus continues. Fund assets invested in money market ETFs on Xetra amounted to EUR 6.8 billion at the end of the year, up 185 per cent year-on-year (December 2022: EUR 2.4 billion). The corresponding Xetra trading volume in 2023 was EUR 2.9 billion (+ 67.6 percent; 2022: EUR 1.7 billion).

In addition, higher interest rates also paved the way for innovations such as the listing of fixed-maturity bond ETFs: “The addition of fixed-maturity bond ETFs to the Xetra product range was one of the most successful product launches in recent years. The new ETFs have a fixed maturity date and offer investors a simple way to make diversified investments in bonds that are held to maturity”, explains Kraus. Only a few months after the start of trading, 19 fixed-maturity ETFs with an investment volume of more than EUR 2 billion were already tradable on Xetra at the end of 2023.

Growing investor interest in active ETFs

Active ETFs benefited disproportionately from the general increase in ETF demand last year. Fund assets managed by active ETFs on Xetra increased by 48.5 per cent year-on-year to a new high of €22.3 billion (December 2022: €15.0 billion). The trading volume also recorded a significant increase to EUR 1.2 billion (+ 34.6 per cent; 2022: EUR 903 million). “The above-average growth rates for active ETFs show that ETF investments are no longer exclusively reserved for index products but are increasingly being used for active investment strategies as well. Investors also benefit from the significant advantages of the ETF structure for these products, such as continuous tradability, high transparency, and attractive fees”, says Kraus. At the end of the year, the range of active ETFs on Xetra comprised 119 products (+31 ETFs; 2022: 88 active ETFs).

More facts and figures can be found in the ETF statistics 2023.