## [# What Bear Market? Investors Add $28B To ETFs](/sections/weekly-etf-flows/what-bear-market-investors-add-28b-etfs) # What Bear Market? Investors Add $28B To ETFs Unfazed by stock market volatility, ETF investors pushed 2018 inflows to the second-highest ever. [![sumit](/sites/default/files/styles/author_image_icon/public/2023-03/Sumit_0.png?itok=SO-7S5SH "sumit")](/authors/sumit-roy) [By Sumit Roy ](/authors/sumit-roy) Dec 21, 2018 Edited by: Sumit Roy [ + Follow ](/etf/login) Share Email LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('js-dfp-tag-article_page_302x26'); }); Loading What bear market? Either oblivious to the turmoil hitting U.S. stocks in December—or sensing opportunity—ETF investors plowed billions of dollars into exchange-traded products this week. Despite another big down week in the market, putting the S&P 500 on track for its worst December performance since the Great Depression, and more than 17% off its all-time highs, investors added $27.5 billion to ETFs during the week ending Thursday, Dec. 20. The inflows were led by U.S. equity ETFs, which pulled in $13 billion. International equity ETFs and U.S. fixed-income ETFs also saw strong inflows, of $6.3 billion and $7.8 billion, respectively. Year-to-date net inflows for all ETFs in 2018 now total $305.6 billion, the second-largest annual haul ever. **S&P 500 ETFs Pick Up Assets** After this week’s sell-off, U.S. small-cap and midcap stocks are down more than 20% from their all-time highs, a level some call a bear market. The S&P 500 is close behind, with only a few percentage points to go before it hits that ominous threshold. But ETF investors aren’t running scared. If anything, they are taking full advantage of the downturn to load up on stocks. The [iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF (IVW)](https://www.etf.com/IVW), the [iShares S&P 500 Value ETF (IVE)](https://www.etf.com/IVE) and the [iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV)](https://www.etf.com/IVV) all saw billions of dollars’ worth of inflows this week. Investors also continued to like Treasuries, and short-term Treasuries in particular. The [iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY)](https://www.etf.com/SHY) picked up $1.8 billion of new money this week as bond prices rallied and interest rates sagged to multimonth lows—a counterintuitive reaction to the Fed’s rate hike this week. **Outflows From Sector ETFs** While broad market ETFs were in favor this week, certain sector ETFs faced heavy outflows. The [Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF)](https://www.etf.vom/XLF), the [Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV)](https://www.etf.com/XLV), the [Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT)](https://www.etf.com/VGT) and the [Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE)](https://www.etf.com/XLE) had redemptions of more than $450 million each. For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below: Top 10 Creations (All ETFs) TickerNameNet Flows ($,mm)AUM ($, mm)AUM % Change[IVW](https://www.etf.com/IVW)[iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF](https://www.etf.com/IVW)2,671.0022,337.7011.96%[IVE](https://www.etf.com/IVE)[iShares S&P 500 Value ETF](https://www.etf.com/IVE)2,048.7416,184.8612.66%[BSV](https://www.etf.com/BSV)[Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF](https://www.etf.com/BSV)1,870.5127,665.596.76%[SHY](https://www.etf.com/SHY)[iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF](https://www.etf.com/SHY)1,790.6619,644.389.12%[IVV](https://www.etf.com/IVV)[iShares Core S&P 500 ETF](https://www.etf.com/IVV)1,462.97147,420.990.99%[VTV](https://www.etf.com/VTV)[Vanguard Value ETF](https://www.etf.com/VTV)1,342.3642,139.893.19%[IJS](https://www.etf.com/IJS)[iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF](https://www.etf.com/IJS)1,014.036,228.2716.28%[IEMG](https://www.etf.com/IEMG)[iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF](https://www.etf.com/IEMG)872.5549,153.701.78%[IWM](https://www.etf.com/IWM)[iShares Russell 2000 ETF](https://www.etf.com/IWM)855.6540,576.972.11%[IJJ](https://www.etf.com/IJJ)[iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF](https://www.etf.com/IJJ)814.906,145.6913.26%Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs) TickerNameNet Flows ($,mm)AUM ($, mm)AUM % Change[QQQ](https://www.etf.com/QQQ)[Invesco QQQ Trust](https://www.etf.com/QQQ)-1,538.1759,794.17-2.57%[XLF](https://www.etf.com/XLF)[Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund](https://www.etf.com/XLF)-1,512.3522,982.84-6.58%[XLV](https://www.etf.com/XLV)[Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund](https://www.etf.com/XLV)-549.7318,455.52-2.98%[VGT](https://www.etf.com/VGT)[Vanguard Information Technology ETF](https://www.etf.com/VGT)-510.2017,458.73-2.92%[XLE](https://www.etf.com/XLE)[Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund](https://www.etf.com/XLE)-456.0613,481.26-3.38%[EZU](https://www.etf.com/EZU)[iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF](https://www.etf.com/EZU)-431.026,612.05-6.52%[VNQ](https://www.etf.com/VNQ)[Vanguard Real Estate ETF](https://www.etf.com/VNQ)-423.6529,090.46-1.46%[JNK](https://www.etf.com/JNK)[SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF](https://www.etf.com/JNK)-410.487,575.46-5.42%[KRE](https://www.etf.com/KRE)[SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF](https://www.etf.com/KRE)-377.052,850.50-13.23%[DIA](https://www.etf.com/DIA)[SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust](https://www.etf.com/DIA)-353.3019,902.26-1.78%ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class Net Flows ($, mm)AUM ($, mm)% of AUM**U.S. Equity**12,964.931,896,678.770.68%**International Equity**6,286.67736,258.150.85%**U.S. Fixed Income**7,843.84585,953.681.34%**International Fixed Income**-342.4165,967.85-0.52%**Commodities** 175.3160,946.350.29%**Currency**1.431,756.610.08%**Leveraged**816.8930,544.012.67%**Inverse**-422.6612,299.77-3.44%**Asset Allocation**257.909,141.822.82%**Alternatives**-81.224,928.90-1.65%**Total:****27,500.67****3,404,475.90****0.81%**Asset Classes (Year-to-Date) Net Flows ($, mm)AUM ($, mm)% of AUM**U.S. Equity**136,792.871,896,678.777.21%**International Equity**66,259.80736,258.159.00%**U.S. Fixed Income**81,187.64585,953.6813.86%**International Fixed Income**10,872.5665,967.8516.48%**Commodities ETFs**-274.0460,946.35-0.45%**Currency**-111.661,756.61-6.36%**Leveraged**7,560.3730,544.0124.75%**Inverse**1,715.5812,299.7713.95%**Asset Allocation**1,251.729,141.8213.69%**Alternatives**310.874,928.906.31%**Total:****305,565.70****3,404,475.90****8.98%**Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM TickerNameAverage Volume (30 Day)1 Week Average Volume% of Average[USEQ](https://www.etf.com/USEQ)[Invesco Russell 1000 Enhanced Equal Weight ETF](https://www.etf.com/USEQ)118,348775,191655.01%[GNAF](https://www.etf.com/GNAF)[MicroSectors FANG+ Index Inverse ETN](https://www.etf.com/GNAF)3181,900596.66%[EAGG](https://www.etf.com/EAGG)[iShares ESG U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF](https://www.etf.com/EAGG)1,3116,859523.22%[EQAL](https://www.etf.com/EQAL)[Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF](https://www.etf.com/EQAL)143,505709,657494.52%[HYGH](https://www.etf.com/HYGH)[iShares Interest Rate Hedged High Yield Bond ETF](https://www.etf.com/HYGH)105,493504,955478.66%[HYHG](https://www.etf.com/HYHG)[ProShares High Yield-Interest Rate Hedged ETF](https://www.etf.com/HYHG)46,770195,579418.17%[HFXI](https://www.etf.com/HFXI)[IQ 50 Percent Hedged FTSE International ETF](https://www.etf.com/HFXI)137,238526,056383.32%[IHY](https://www.etf.com/IHY)[VanEck Vectors International High Yield Bond ETF](https://www.etf.com/IHY)50,157191,902382.60%[ELD](https://www.etf.com/ELD)[WisdomTree Emerging Markets Local Debt Fund](https://www.etf.com/ELD)45,040153,952341.81%[MUNI](https://www.etf.com/MUNI)[PIMCO Intermediate Municipal Bond Active ETF](https://www.etf.com/MUNI)69,797232,174332.64%Disclaimer: All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the article is published. Data is believed to be accurate; however, transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges. [ + Follow ](/etf/login) [ Sumit Roy Senior ETF Analyst ](/authors/sumit-roy) Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com and author of (Don't) Invest Like a Pro. He creates a variety of content for the platform, including… [View Bio](/authors/sumit-roy) Related Topics [Equity](http://www.etf.com/topics/equity) [Fixed Income](http://www.etf.com/topics/fixed-income) [Bond](http://www.etf.com/topics/bond) [Blackrock](http://www.etf.com/topics/blackrock) [Broad-based](http://www.etf.com/topics/broad-based)