Exchange-traded fund investors tapped into equities in July, investing $21 million in such funds during the course of the month, new research shows.

The latest figures from BlackRock, owner of the ETF giant iShares, show that the US was the main contributor to this figure, with US large cap products attracting $6.9 billion last month and US small cap inflows at a nine-month high of $2.3 billion.

Emerging markets equity ETPs drew $3.6 billion, split evenly between broad exposure funds with $1.7 billion and country-focused exposures with $1.8 billion.

Total inflows into ETPs in July were $22.6 billion - the highest figure since January this year, when the industry saw inflows of $33.5 billion. Total assets invested in such funds stood at $1.723 trillion at the end of July, up from $1.643 trillion a year earlier.

BlackRock said that appetite for risk also drove flows into certain fixed income ETPs, with high yield bonds attracting $2 billion in net inflows, investment grade corporates $1.6 billion and emerging markets bonds $1.2 billion. By contrast, safe-haven government bond ETPs saw outflows of $3.7 billion globally.

In general, the firm said that bond ETPs are now driving industry flows more than ever, garnering just over a third of the share in the year's first seven months.

In other ETF-related news, there has been widespread media and analyst speculation in the UK recently that new European regulation will lead to higher fees for ETFs. However, the International Securities Lending Association said that new guidelines by the European Securities Markets Authority had "unfortunately...been the subject of some speculation in the press concerning the charging of fees for securities lending services, much of which is inconsistent with the guidelines."

BlackRock said in a statement: “ESMA’s guidelines represent a positive step in a number of areas towards ensuring investors better understand the risks and attributes associated with ETFs and other UCITS products. BlackRock intends to work with ESMA and national regulators to understand the application of the guidelines, as they move towards implementation, to preserve the benefits of securities lending for our clients and the broader capital markets.”