The assets held in US and European exchange-traded products (ETPs) surpassed the trillion dollar mark last year, according to research from Deutsche Bank and Blackrock.

Deutsche expects the ETP market to rise again this year, to hit US$1.2 trillion, or in the event of a continuing bullish equity market, possibly hitting $1.4 trillion, according to the bank. Blackrock reported that combined volumes of ETFs and ETPs reached 2,508 products, with assets of $1.137 trillion from 129 providers on 42 exchanges around the world.

The ETP market incorporates exchange-traded notes (ETNs) and exchange-traded funds. Additionally, in Europe, there are exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) and, in the US, exchange-traded vehicles (ETVs).

Research published in December by Blackrock put the figure for the ETF market in the US and Europe at an all-time high of $982bn. "At the end of November 2009 the global ETF industry had 1,907 ETFs, with 3,678 listings, assets of $982.28 billion from 103 providers on 39 exchanges around the world."

Not all areas have experienced growth, with Blackrock reporting that the number of exchanges with official listings decreased by four to 39 and the average daily trading volume in US dollars decreased by 15.7% to $68bn.

In the event of a bullish market in 2010, Deutsche has said it expects the European ETP market to reach the €210bn ($304bn) mark, which would equal growth of 30%-35%. The German bank expects the US ETP market to surpass the $1 trillion mark and experience growth of between 25% and 30%.