Exchange traded funds run by db x-trackers, a unit of Deutsche Bank, hold more than €10 billion ($15.31 billion) of assets since they were launched just over a year ago, making Deutsche Bank the third largest ETF provider in Europe when measured by assets under management. ETFs, which are listed and traded like stocks, have expanded rapidly, finding favour with professional investors such as hedge funds looking to get cheap and fast exposure to sometimes hard-to-enter sectors like infrastructure or commodities. At the same time, they are gaining favour with private investors. Although Barclays Global Investors is still the world’s single largest ETF provider via its iShares brand, firms like Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale, the latter operating through its Lyxor unit, have been actively rolling out new funds to expand their market presence. “One interesting aspect of our growth is that we were the European ETF provider with the highest inflow of assets over the last six months. We captured more than 50 per cent of new inflows of assets into ETFs during this period,” Thorsten Michalik, head of db x-trackers at Deutsche Bank, said in a statement. Assets under management in all European-listed ETFs were €89.17 billion at the end of 2007, Deutsche Bank added.