Global ETF industry grabs record cash in 2015: BlackRock

Investors poured $347 billion into exchange-traded funds globally during 2015, fund-manager BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) said on Sunday, setting a new record for the industry.

A woman walks next to a BlackRock sign pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York, October 11, 2015.

BlackRock said its own haul of $130 billion in new money also set a record in global flows for its iShares ETF business, surpassing the previous annual record set in 2014, when investors added $103 billion in new money to the funds.

ETFs, generally a basket of stocks, bonds or other assets, grew at a record rate despite markets struggling in 2015 to deliver the broad gains they have posted since rebounding from the financial crisis in 2009. Global ETF assets now total about $3 trillion.

In the United States, inflows of $228 billion last year were not enough to top the record $246 billion brought in during 2014, according to the BlackRock data.

A third-party data provider, ETFGI LLP, said its estimates for the year also showed a similar increase in new assets for global ETFs over 2014 and a decrease in U.S. flows.

The largest U.S. ETF, SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY.P), delivered 1.34 percent in total returns in 2015. The iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG.P) , the largest U.S. bond ETF, eked out 0.48 percent, according to Morningstar Inc (MORN.O).

Investors looked to ETFs tracking stocks in places like Europe and Japan, hoping shares of companies there would be boosted by stimulus from central bankers.

World stocks, dollar dip as investors turn wary after Fed

Investors turned cautious on Friday about what a stronger dollar and weak commodity prices could mean for the world economy, as a clutch of central banks moved to cushion the impact of the first U.S. rate rise in nearly a decade.

Initial relief after the U.S. Federal Reserve enacted a long-expected hike on Wednesday started to fade, as falls in global stocks and emerging markets showed that the move might not pass off as smoothly as hoped.

The dollar sagged slightly on Friday but remained on track to record its strongest week since early November. .DXY

European shares fell back from a one-week high reached in the previous session, taking their cue from earlier slips in Asia and on Wall Street, as oil prices headed for their third consecutive week of losses.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3, which had risen 1.3 percent on Thursday, fell 0.6 percent.

"I am still quite bearish about the prospects for the first quarter of next year. The oil price problems are not going away any time soon," said Terry Torrison, managing director at Monaco-based McLaren Securities.

Debt markets built on gains made on Thursday, with bets that the Fed will make fewer rate rises next year than it is currently projecting, reflecting bigger concerns about the economy and doubts about significant inflation.

In Europe, Spanish bonds lagged in a broad rally on Friday ahead of an uncertain national election, with the country's traditional system of two-party dominance facing an unprecedented challenge from populist movements.