On the stock market, two letters have recently caused great euphoria: AI. The launch of ChatGPT has given a huge boost to interest in artificial intelligence. After the company OpenAI presented its chatbot in November 2022, demand for Google and some other tech stocks virtually exploded. Jan Tachtler investigated whether the same is true for AI funds and ETFs.
The capital market analyst at HQ Trust and co-portfolio manager of HQT Megatrends evaluated the search queries on Google for the topics “artificial intelligence” and “ChatGPT” and contrasted them with the estimated monthly net flows of all funds and ETFs licensed for distribution in Germany. These funds were categorized by Morningstar as thematic products and assigned to the topic “Artificial Intelligence + Big Data”. Currently, a total of around EUR 12 billion is invested in these products. The analysis covers the period from September 2018, when the first ETF was launched, to May 2023.
- “The ‘hype’ around AI, triggered by ChatGPT, is currently not yet reflected in net inflows into thematic funds and ETFs.”
- “Since November 2022, the estimated net inflow for AI funds and ETFs is €335 million. This is just 2.9% of the capital currently invested in this area.”
- “In 3 of the past 7 months, outflows were actually higher than net inflows for these products.”
- “Most recently, it has been the ETFs that have benefited from net inflows. However, they are still far from the high points of 2020 and 2021.”
- “Inflows into AI funds and ETFs were highest in February 2021, at around €1.2 billion. By comparison, these products saw inflows of just €140 million in May 2023.
