2021 Inflows Near $400B After Strong May

With another month in the books, ETF inflows continued at their record pace. Investors added $66.5 billion to their U.S.-listed ETF holdings during the month of May, bringing year-to-date inflows up to $394.8 billion—well ahead of the $121.1 billion seen at this same time a year ago.

Barring a major setback, 2021’s inflows are poised to easily topple last year’s full-year record of $507.4 billion. In fact, if the current pace continues, this year’s inflows could challenge the once-unthinkable $1 trillion level. But that’s a big “if.” There’s a full seven months to go in the year, and the pace of inflows can change rapidly depending on the economic and market environment.

Inflows Evenly Split

Taking a closer look at the data from May, the inflows were fairly evenly split across the various segments. U.S. equity ETFs took in $24.2 billion; international equity ETF pulled in $17.4 billion and U.S. fixed income ETFs gathered $14 billion of fresh cash.

On a year-to-date basis, U.S. equity ETFs are leading, with $181.5 billion of inflows, followed by international equity ETFs with $118.2 billion and U.S. fixed income ETFs with $69.4 billion.

Both U.S. and international stocks held strong in May. The S&P 500 hovered near its all-time high of 4,200, while the MSCI EAFE Index climbed to its best level since 2007.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) and the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) were the top asset gatherers of the month, each with inflows of more than $2.6 billion.

The Vanguard Value ETF (VTV) also saw interest, as value stocks held on to their strong outperformance versus growth stocks for the year. VTV is up 18.5% this year compared to 7% for the Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG).

Investors Shun Low-Vol ETF

On the outflows side of the ledger, notable ETFs with redemptions in May included the iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF (IYR), the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY), the iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (USMV) and the iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (IHI).

USMV is also among the least popular funds of the year, with $7.4 billion of outflows for 2021 as a whole. It’s joined by the iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) and the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), which have year-to-date outflows of $11.9 billion and $7.1 billion, respectively.

For a full list of the top inflows and outflows for May and the year as a whole, see the tables below:

 

Top Gainers (May 2021)

Ticker	Name	Issuer	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($M)	% of AUM	YTD 2021 Net Flows($,M)
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	Vanguard	3,778.32	225,507.49	1.68%	24,153.18
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	Vanguard	2,657.85	243,452.07	1.09%	16,662.99
IEFA	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Blackrock	2,631.63	96,646.23	2.72%	3,832.93
VTV	Vanguard Value ETF	Vanguard	2,116.61	81,876.35	2.59%	8,944.21
BBEU	JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF	JPMorgan Chase	1,982.22	8,497.51	23.33%	4,468.08
BSV	Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF	Vanguard	1,703.55	34,124.12	4.99%	4,716.69
RSP	Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF	Invesco	1,569.22	28,617.59	5.48%	6,637.13
GLD	SPDR Gold Trust	State Street Global Advisors	1,567.17	63,421.66	2.47%	-7,070.24
XLV	Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	1,545.74	27,564.63	5.61%	-185.08
XLF	Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	1,534.28	44,677.90	3.43%	11,169.56

 

Top Gainers (Year-to-Date)

Ticker	Name	Issuer	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($M)	% of AUM	May 2021 Net Flows($,M)
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	Vanguard	24,153.18	225,507.49	10.71%	3,778.32
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	Vanguard	16,662.99	243,452.07	6.84%	2,657.85
XLF	Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	11,169.56	44,677.90	25.00%	1,534.28
IVV	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Blackrock	10,915.92	279,437.51	3.91%	-797.51
BND	Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF	Vanguard	9,240.59	75,115.45	12.30%	1,072.24
VTV	Vanguard Value ETF	Vanguard	8,944.21	81,876.35	10.92%	2,116.61
IEMG	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	Blackrock	8,257.20	81,714.28	10.10%	707.49
IUSB	iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF	Blackrock	8,120.02	13,906.23	58.39%	1,188.03
ARKK	ARK Innovation ETF	ARK	6,987.75	21,354.61	32.72%	-135.89
RSP	Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF	Invesco	6,637.13	28,617.59	23.19%	1,569.22

 

Biggest Losers (May 2021)

Ticker	Name	Issuer	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($M)	% of AUM	YTD 2021 Net Flows($,M)
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	State Street Global Advisors	-4,387.60	361,618.96	-1.21%	-6,591.72
IYR	iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF	Blackrock	-1,796.58	4,763.25	-37.72%	-1,379.08
SDY	SPDR S&P Dividend ETF	State Street Global Advisors	-1,333.54	19,883.66	-6.71%	-233.79
USMV	iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF	Blackrock	-1,154.14	27,763.32	-4.16%	-7,438.53
IHI	iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF	Blackrock	-892.33	7,788.18	-11.46%	-1,852.30
IVV	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Blackrock	-797.51	279,437.51	-0.29%	10,915.92
IEF	iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	Blackrock	-721.00	13,096.22	-5.51%	-1,074.02
IXN	iShares Global Tech ETF	Blackrock	-669.27	4,653.94	-14.38%	-663.45
IWF	iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF	Blackrock	-647.43	65,480.43	-0.99%	-2,693.90
ARKW	ARK Next Generation Internet ETF	ARK	-576.25	5,590.25	-10.31%	1,073.77

 

Biggest Losers (Year-to-Date)

Ticker	Name	Issuer	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($M)	% of AUM	May 2021 Net Flows($,M)
LQD	iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Blackrock	-11,861.40	41,009.66	-28.92%	-372.89
USMV	iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF	Blackrock	-7,438.53	27,763.32	-26.79%	-1,154.14
GLD	SPDR Gold Trust	State Street Global Advisors	-7,070.24	63,421.66	-11.15%	1,567.17
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	State Street Global Advisors	-6,591.72	361,618.96	-1.82%	-4,387.60
TLT	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	Blackrock	-4,403.97	12,434.46	-35.42%	163.63
HYG	iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Blackrock	-3,723.48	22,070.69	-16.87%	540.47
QUAL	iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF	Blackrock	-3,207.44	20,467.27	-15.67%	-290.24
SHV	iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	Blackrock	-2,957.39	14,872.76	-19.88%	-67.41
IWF	iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF	Blackrock	-2,693.90	65,480.43	-4.11%	-647.43
XLP	Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	-2,476.75	11,258.53	-22.00%	809.77

 

Asset Classes (May 2021)

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	24,194.38	3,680,181.36	0.66%
International Equity	17,438.66	1,266,776.23	1.38%
U.S. Fixed Income	14,035.20	1,021,722.59	1.37%
International Fixed Income	3,467.13	138,735.58	2.50%
Commodities	5,514.44	147,566.48	3.74%
Currency	46.81	1,803.87	2.59%
Leveraged	805.84	58,131.91	1.39%
Inverse	769.28	11,638.84	6.61%
Asset Allocation	-53.86	15,772.82	-0.34%
Alternatives	325.10	6,477.08	5.02%
Total:	66,542.98	6,348,806.75	1.05%

 

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	181,539.53	3,680,181.36	4.93%
International Equity	118,228.21	1,266,776.23	9.33%
U.S. Fixed Income	69,368.77	1,021,722.59	6.79%
International Fixed Income	17,726.41	138,735.58	12.78%
Commodities	-972.09	147,566.48	-0.66%
Currency	-102.91	1,803.87	-5.70%
Leveraged	2,374.02	58,131.91	4.08%
Inverse	3,054.66	11,638.84	26.25%
Asset Allocation	1,508.98	15,772.82	9.57%
Alternatives	2,035.35	6,477.08	31.42%
Total:	394,760.93	6,348,806.75	6.22%

 

May 2021 ETF Issuer League Table

Issuer	Net Flows ($,M)	AUM ($,M)	% of AUM	YTD 2021 Net Flows($,M)
Blackrock	13,942.16	2,264,617.08	0.62%	76,454.31
Vanguard	25,302.80	1,691,273.23	1.50%	141,076.33
State Street Global Advisors	5,937.76	970,110.78	0.61%	33,715.26
Invesco	5,712.87	341,041.85	1.68%	23,346.77
Charles Schwab	3,589.08	240,339.55	1.49%	19,360.92
First Trust	2,147.58	124,994.23	1.72%	11,001.88
Vanguard Group, Inc.	1,042.78	101,999.57	1.02%	5,150.71
JPMorgan Chase	2,855.73	63,964.39	4.46%	15,138.04
VanEck	825.77	61,872.70	1.33%	4,753.99
ProShares	1,593.69	55,724.06	2.86%	5,125.03
WisdomTree	580.38	44,683.05	1.30%	2,133.39
ARK	-1,881.56	43,276.87	-4.35%	15,296.35
Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Ltd.	1,251.75	32,859.62	3.81%	10,739.98
Fidelity	457.03	28,552.42	1.60%	2,593.61
PIMCO	-330.89	26,762.77	-1.24%	907.37
Direxion	289.38	25,450.27	1.14%	1,669.89
Goldman Sachs	-281.13	22,966.55	-1.22%	-815.04
Deutsche Bank	103.36	21,862.28	0.47%	341.02
Northern Trust	489.22	18,263.40	2.68%	2,154.46
CICC	659.15	10,206.08	6.46%	4,367.89
Franklin Templeton	188.33	9,422.73	2.00%	392.20
SS&C	-94.48	9,207.73	-1.03%	254.53
ETFMG	289.41	7,650.63	3.78%	1,394.35
Aberdeen Standard Investments	207.02	7,268.91	2.85%	508.02
Pacer Advisors	356.31	7,193.67	4.95%	800.64
American Century Investments	641.72	6,776.80	9.47%	2,259.68
Exchange Traded Concepts	73.42	6,730.34	1.09%	1,040.45
Victory Capital	42.94	6,431.62	0.67%	109.30
Innovator	182.20	5,133.99	3.55%	864.16
Grace Partners of Dupage LP	29.27	5,118.26	0.57%	548.64
Principal	-875.40	5,012.84	-17.46%	745.96
John Hancock	-2.32	4,934.16	-0.05%	-716.44
US Commodity Funds	-87.68	4,565.28	-1.92%	-1,729.17
New York Life	80.59	4,416.85	1.82%	362.12
Amplify Investments	-214.69	4,388.90	-4.89%	1,101.88
Janus Henderson	-6.41	4,157.56	-0.15%	227.53
US Global Investors	-8.18	4,123.13	-0.20%	465.57
The Hartford	60.12	4,019.46	1.50%	91.69
Nuveen Securities	30.40	3,814.84	0.80%	863.30
Barclays Capital Inc.	-29.26	3,107.14	-0.94%	1,227.56
BMO	62.81	2,640.56	2.38%	311.16
AdvisorShares	31.56	2,271.34	1.39%	1,259.45
Toroso Investments	261.58	2,257.89	11.59%	667.35
Prudential	72.77	1,641.44	4.43%	261.65
GraniteShares	44.48	1,573.87	2.83%	189.30
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC	26.01	1,557.06	1.67%	288.30
O’Shares Investments	-34.63	1,520.53	-2.28%	10.55
Vident	-8.66	1,505.69	-0.58%	-21.28
Dimensional Holdings	185.27	1,471.70	12.59%	988.98
Defiance ETFs	-1.22	1,425.90	-0.09%	341.55
Davis Advisers	17.80	1,334.96	1.33%	91.19
UBS	-8.24	1,231.80	-0.67%	-44.50
Aptus Capital Advisors	24.72	1,215.95	2.03%	186.15
Virtus Investment Partners	-5.39	1,160.18	-0.46%	177.28
Cambria	82.89	1,115.46	7.43%	197.61
Inspire	30.98	956.32	3.24%	133.49
EMPIRICAL FINANCE LLC	27.75	947.07	2.93%	228.77
Main Management	8.71	941.69	0.92%	191.12
Credit Suisse Group AG	-35.68	912.21	-3.91%	149.67
BNY Mellon	32.06	809.27	3.96%	258.24
Transamerica Funds	0.00	796.42	0.00%	-29.97
Nationwide	41.54	681.57	6.10%	171.36
The Motley Fool	0.04	625.97	0.01%	57.19
Strategy Shares	106.76	613.97	17.39%	388.33
Roundhill Investments	-48.51	605.58	-8.01%	273.87
Renaissance Capital	-85.50	583.98	-14.64%	-129.14
Tortoise	-5.52	542.91	-1.02%	35.07
Horizon Kinetics LLC	183.84	536.99	34.23%	509.87
Merk	14.31	493.51	2.90%	50.31
Timothy Plan	6.10	462.82	1.32%	17.26
TrimTabs	1.30	436.72	0.30%	40.90
Sprott, Inc.	0.39	420.99	0.09%	18.15
Teucrium	5.40	398.72	1.35%	11.08
SRN Advisors	-0.53	395.27	-0.13%	77.30
Liquid Strategies	32.92	375.64	8.76%	67.90
Simplify Asset Management Inc.	82.91	367.66	22.55%	231.67
Howard Capital Management	13.95	365.33	3.82%	45.34
Distillate Capital	12.43	364.08	3.41%	105.36
Al Marketing LLC	-12.85	359.94	-3.57%	-32.83
Redwood Investment Management	15.71	349.58	4.50%	-106.90
Regents Park Funds	1.88	327.87	0.57%	57.23
WBI	4.95	296.18	1.67%	-0.55
Swedish Export Credit	27.60	295.13	9.35%	14.33
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.	21.30	283.17	7.52%	112.41
ClearShares LLC	-34.75	278.97	-12.46%	29.58
Tuttle Tactical Management, LLC	-17.08	241.24	-7.08%	88.15
OBP Capital LLC	0.00	232.86	0.00%	116.87
Donald L. Hagan LLC	4.85	228.15	2.13%	69.49
Intangible Capital	2.48	189.01	1.31%	2.49
Core Alternative Capital	10.59	184.32	5.74%	34.63
Cboe Vest Financial LLC	27.22	180.69	15.06%	78.84
EntrepreneurShares, LLC	-4.56	172.31	-2.65%	-2.61
Little Harbor Advisors	7.67	154.73	4.96%	89.89
Cavalier16	3.19	152.94	2.08%	3.19
State Street Global Advisors Limited	-9.08	152.38	-5.96%	114.13
TrueMark Investments	9.08	132.07	6.88%	57.54
ProcureAM	-6.58	127.51	-5.16%	74.92
Gadsden	5.92	120.99	4.90%	15.84
Syntax Advisors	1.63	120.12	1.36%	21.41
Arrow Funds	0.00	113.33	0.00%	0.56
Wahed Invest LLC	7.26	109.41	6.63%	35.51
AGF	-2.48	102.89	-2.42%	-17.62
CornerCap Investment Counsel, Inc.	-0.39	102.55	-0.38%	27.08
Kingsview Partners LLC	9.86	96.63	10.20%	90.09
Wainwright, Inc.	9.94	90.67	10.96%	80.23
Exponential ETFs	0.00	77.49	0.00%	-0.08
Advisors Asset Management	12.72	74.49	17.08%	23.63
iM Square SAS	15.18	71.98	21.10%	11.93
Pettee Investors	1.03	71.84	1.44%	18.79
Humankind USA LLC	4.08	71.27	5.72%	63.86
Change Finance	4.66	66.74	6.98%	28.51
Natixis	-0.27	64.31	-0.41%	10.14
Metaurus Advisors	0.01	61.70	0.01%	3.45
Impact Shares	1.58	59.03	2.68%	19.19
Pacific Life	0.00	57.21	0.00%	-0.11
Beyond Investing	5.63	54.90	10.25%	14.62
Absolute Investment Advisers LLC	0.00	49.35	0.00%	7.09
Swan Global Investments	13.44	49.24	27.30%	46.16
Esoterica	-0.04	46.47	-0.08%	27.83
Infusive Asset Management	1.72	45.27	3.81%	6.76
Gotham Asset Management Holdings	0.00	44.84	0.00%	42.35
Highland Capital Management	0.00	43.64	0.01%	-9.77
Emles Advisors LLC	0.74	43.13	1.72%	-25.91
Toews Corp.	-2.51	42.65	-5.89%	-6.39
Premise Capital	0.00	39.92	0.00%	-13.27
Neil Azous Revocable Trust	2.92	39.08	7.47%	17.64
Cabot ETF Partners LLC	-0.25	35.34	-0.71%	33.96
Alger Group Holdings LLC	13.71	34.88	39.31%	29.65
Red Gate Advisers LLC	0.00	33.29	0.00%	5.01
ETF Series Solutions	1.36	31.38	4.33%	3.84
Inverdale Capital Management LLC	5.27	27.64	19.06%	21.68
Guinness Atkinson Asset Management	0.30	26.92	1.11%	13.63
AlphaMark Advisors	0.00	26.52	0.00%	-1.41
MCCM Group LLC	-2.29	24.63	-9.28%	34.10
Whitford Asset Management	13.87	23.94	57.96%	20.07
2nd Vote Value Investments, Inc	3.81	23.23	16.41%	16.73
WisdomTree Investments, Inc.	3.05	22.29	13.69%	21.10
Truist	-7.32	21.25	-34.43%	0.10
Rayliant Investment Research	3.45	18.13	19.04%	14.93
Formidable Asset Management	16.21	17.68	91.67%	16.83
Changebridge Capital LLC	0.29	16.78	1.70%	9.78
The Leuthold Group LLC	0.75	15.14	4.96%	1.43
GAMCO Investors, Inc.	0.81	13.52	5.98%	7.27
Point Bridge Capital	0.91	11.97	7.64%	0.08
Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC	0.00	11.42	0.00%	-1.20
EquBot	1.48	11.28	13.16%	4.82
Mairs & Power, Inc.	1.26	11.08	11.34%	11.01
Ridgeline Research LLC	2.31	10.29	22.49%	6.77
Alternative Access Funds LLC	0.00	10.02	0.00%	0.00
New Age Alpha Advisors LLC	2.17	8.79	24.65%	6.93
Water Island Capital Partners LP	0.00	6.51	0.01%	0.00
Global Beta Advisors	0.00	5.13	0.00%	-2.99
Uncommon Investment Advisors LLC	3.26	4.32	75.58%	3.76
Applied Finance Group	2.49	3.74	66.42%	2.49
Reflection Asset Management, LLC	0.00	3.31	-0.01%	0.59
ASYMmetric ETFs	0.80	2.39	33.44%	2.30
Wilshire Phoenix Funds LLC	0.00	1.89	0.00%	0.00
Democracy Investment Management LLC	0.00	1.32	0.02%	0.64
Eaton Vance Corp.	0.00	0.00	0.00%	0.00
Tuttle Capital Management LLC	0.00	0.00	0.00%	0.00

 

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.