2022 ETF Inflows Slumped Amid Market Rout

Inflows tumbled as rate hikes, war and inflation sent investors scurrying for safety.

ShubhamSaharan_white_bg
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Reviewed by: Shubham Saharan
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Edited by: Shubham Saharan

Volatile markets and a hawkish Federal Reserve took their toll on exchange-traded funds last year, as investors added 32% less to ETFs than they did the year before.  

ETFs brought in $614 billion in 2022 compared with the record $900 billion the year prior, according to ETF.com data. Soaring interest rates, inflation at 40-year highs and geopolitical turmoil battered investor sentiment and pulled markets down.  

The S&P 500 notched a nearly 20% annual loss—its worst since 2008—while the Nasdaq tumbled 33%. Meanwhile, bonds endured their worst year in history. 

Still, the $614 billion was the second-best year of inflows to date for ETFs, as gyrating markets caused investors to flock to passively managed vehicles. Comparatively, mutual funds, through mid-December, shed over $950 billion, according to Bloomberg data, trumping the $13 billion that exited last year and marking the greatest outflow on record. Some of that money has moved to ETFs. 

Fixed income funds emerged as a bright spot for the year, as the asset class’ inflows rose 8% from the previous year to $189 billion as investors wagered fixed income would be a safer haven over equities.

Funds pulling in big sums of investor money included the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) and the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), which collectively posted $29 billion in gains last year.  

Equity funds totals dropped 38%, falling to almost $285 billion from 2021’s $461 billion. Funds bringing in the most money included the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) and the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), which collectively brought in nearly $88 billion, according to ETF.com data.  

On the other side of the ledger, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), the largest U.S.-listed ETF, shed $12 billion last year, according to ETF.com data.  

 

For a full list of the year’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:  

 

Top Gainers (Year-to-Date)

Ticker Name Issuer Net Flows ($,mm) AUM ($M) % of AUM December 2022 Net Flows($,M)
VOO Vanguard S&P 500 ETF Vanguard 39,961.97 258,366.62 15.47% 941.58
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF Vanguard 25,916.47 256,768.07 10.09% 2,344.55
IVV iShares Core S&P 500 ETF Blackrock 21,549.64 285,473.83 7.55% -2,985.82
SCHD Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF Charles Schwab 15,400.79 44,191.00 34.85% 1,571.73
TLT iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF Blackrock 15,272.40 26,672.92 57.26% 290.05
BND Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF Vanguard 14,195.39 84,734.89 16.75% 2,151.21
BIL SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF State Street Global Advisors 12,815.42 26,391.20 48.56% 288.00
JEPI JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF JPMorgan Chase 12,762.74 17,388.69 73.40% 1,347.90
TQQQ ProShares UltraPro QQQ ProShares 12,075.95 9,856.45 122.52% 1,540.07
VTV Vanguard Value ETF Vanguard 11,083.70 98,394.86 11.26% 1,452.13

 

Biggest Losers (Year-to-Date)

Ticker Name Issuer Net Flows ($,mm) AUM ($M) % of AUM December 2022 Net Flows($,M)
SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust State Street Global Advisors -12,445.29 353,479.16 -3.52% -3,468.25
TIP iShares TIPS Bond ETF Blackrock -9,606.04 23,004.62 -41.76% -1,510.79
XLF Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund State Street Global Advisors -7,293.94 31,008.86 -23.52% -355.42
VLUE iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF Blackrock -6,367.50 7,468.41 -85.26% -182.66
BBEU JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF JPMorgan Chase -4,960.50 3,137.25 -158.12% -378.80
MINT PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ETF PIMCO -4,523.41 8,811.89 -51.33% -843.35
SCHP Schwab U.S. TIPS ETF Charles Schwab -4,200.96 13,708.45 -30.65% -164.01
PFF iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Blackrock -3,337.02 12,895.85 -25.88% -381.17
VGK Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF Vanguard -3,029.80 15,053.07 -20.13% 71.24
FALN iShares Fallen Angels USD Bond ETF Blackrock -2,696.07 1,569.69 -171.76% 5.22

 

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

  Net Flows ($, mm) AUM ($, mm) % of AUM
U.S. Equity 284,562.84 3,789,034.77 7.51%
International Equity 99,205.73 1,138,106.51 8.72%
U.S. Fixed Income 189,422.60 1,154,134.04 16.41%
International Fixed Income 7,817.84 137,795.54 5.67%
Commodities -3,928.18 130,146.36 -3.02%
Currency 1,436.75 3,716.20 38.66%
Leveraged 22,541.28 43,033.03 52.38%
Inverse 9,046.14 24,610.11 36.76%
Asset Allocation 1,187.04 16,730.36 7.10%
Alternatives 2,754.38 8,850.78 31.12%
Total: 614,046.42 6,446,157.69 9.53%

 

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.

Shubham Saharan is a markets reporter at etf.com. Before joining the company, she reported for Bloomberg and the Financial Times. Saharan is a graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University.