Investors desperate to find safe havens for their cash put a record $11bn into fixed income exchange-traded funds in May, of which half, totalling $5.6bn, flowed into sovereign bonds.

According to a survey by asset manager BlackRock, bond ETF inflows smashed a previous monthly record of $9.1bn set in January 2012. Sales of ETFs across every sector saw gains of $19.2bn in May.