Inflows into exchange-traded index funds (ETFs) around the world this year exceeded $1 trillion at the end of November, according to data from Morningstar Inc. The trillion-dollar milestone was crossed for the first time, The Wall Street Journal notes.

At the end of all of 2020, the figure amounted to $735.7 billion. The unprecedented jump in the volume of free cash has led to increased interest in ETFs, prompting asset managers to create new trading strategies.

Together with higher quotes, this has led to a rise in total ETF assets globally to nearly $9.5 trillion, more than double the amount at the end of 2018. “We have a historical precedent: turbulent financial markets, and more and more investors are choosing index products,” notes Rich Powers, head of ETF and index product management at Vanguard.

A record 380 ETFs have been launched in the U.S. this year.The 20 fastest-growing funds, which are mostly managed by Vanguard and BlackRock, have attracted nearly 40% of all funds since the beginning of this year.

Their average fees are less than 0.1pc.These ETFs are mostly “tied” to some benchmarks. FactSet’s director of ETF research Elizabeth Cashner noted that this year investment firms closed the smallest number of funds in eight years. A record 277 ETFs ceased operations in 2020.