Volatile and in some cases stagnating equity markets over the past three years mean investors have increasingly put their hopes in the fixed-income market, and bond ETFs have benefited from this wider industry trend. They accounted for almost a third of annual inflows into the ETF sector last year and, after a challenging start, the last two quarters saw record inflows.

Low interest rates and diminishing yields combined with a deepening sovereign debt crisis are encouraging investors to turn their backs on government bonds in favour of investment-grade and high-yield corporate bonds, which accounted for three quarters of fixed-income ETF inflows so far this year.