ETF Demand Relentless, $74B In April

May 01, 2021

Reviewed by: Sumit Roy

Edited by: Sumit Roy

ETFs continued to swallow up assets in April as investors added $74.2 billion to the space. An unrelenting rally in U.S. stocks helped the mood during the month: The S&P 500 breached 4,200 for the first time, bringing its year-to-date gains up to 11.7%.

With four months in the books, U.S.-listed ETFs have pulled in a net $320.3 billion in fresh cash, well ahead of last year’s $121.1 billion pace.

While certainly large and impressive, nothing about April’s inflows was particularly surprising. U.S. equity ETFs picked up the lion’s share of new assets—$31.8 billion—followed by U.S. fixed income ETFs at $22.3 billion and international equity ETFs at $17.4 billion.

On a year-to-date basis, the ordering is slightly different: U.S. equity ETFs are in the lead with $152.2 billion of inflows, followed by international equity ETFs at $100 billion and U.S. fixed income ETFs at $53.7 billion.

Shortening Duration

April’s top inflows list was chock-full of the usual low cost, broad market ETFs. The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and the Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Index ETF (VGSH) each picked up more than $2.4 billion of new assets during the month.

VGSH exemplified the move into short-dated fixed income securities during April. As a short-term Treasury ETF, VGSH doesn’t have as much interest rate risk as some other fixed income ETFs, a characteristic that investors might find appealing in an environment where rates have been climbing upward.

With asset prices elevated across the board, something like VGSH could also act as a place to park cash for investors interested in lightening up on risk.

‘TLT’ Struggles

The inflows into VGSH contrast with the $2.1 billion pulled from the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT). The fund has struggled this year, losing 12% of its value as rates have jumped. In its April FOMC meeting, the Fed remained committed to keeping its benchmark rate near zero and its asset purchases at their current levels.

But many investors believe the central bank will start to pare back its stimulus measures if the economy keeps booming. TLT is among the most interest-rate-sensitive bond ETFs, making it particularly vulnerable to a rate spike.

Joining TLT on the top outflows list for April were the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM), the ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) and the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD).

For a full list of the top inflows and outflows for April and 2021 as a whole, see the tables below:

Top Gainers (April 2021)

Ticker	Name	Issuer	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($M)	% of AUM	YTD 2021 Net Flows($,M)
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	Vanguard	4,176.79	240,609.77	1.74%	13,920.91
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	Vanguard	3,219.85	220,344.19	1.46%	20,291.96
VGSH	Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Index ETF	Vanguard	2,401.25	12,554.09	19.13%	2,736.67
BND	Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF	Vanguard	2,363.86	73,844.35	3.20%	8,032.17
IVV	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Blackrock	2,217.00	277,912.32	0.80%	10,975.70
VTV	Vanguard Value ETF	Vanguard	2,161.71	77,272.50	2.80%	6,803.47
AGG	iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	Blackrock	2,068.09	86,948.47	2.38%	4,458.64
SCHD	Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF	Charles Schwab	1,788.70	23,465.61	7.62%	4,411.23
GOVT	iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF	Blackrock	1,759.38	16,198.56	10.86%	2,175.61
BBEU	JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF	JPMorgan Chase	1,655.06	6,313.26	26.22%	2,485.87

Top Gainers (Year-to-Date)

Ticker	Name	Issuer	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($M)	% of AUM	April 2021 Net Flows($,M)
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	Vanguard	20,291.96	220,344.19	9.21%	3,219.85
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	Vanguard	13,920.91	240,609.77	5.79%	4,176.79
IVV	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Blackrock	10,975.70	277,912.32	3.95%	2,217.00
XLF	Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	9,381.04	40,563.04	23.13%	274.49
BND	Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF	Vanguard	8,032.17	73,844.35	10.88%	2,363.86
IEMG	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	Blackrock	7,549.71	81,272.05	9.29%	115.55
ARKK	ARK Innovation ETF	ARK	7,513.60	24,427.34	30.76%	1,029.67
IUSB	iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF	Blackrock	6,889.61	12,654.39	54.44%	492.00
VTV	Vanguard Value ETF	Vanguard	6,803.47	77,272.50	8.80%	2,161.71
XLE	Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	5,198.19	23,548.29	22.07%	643.81

Biggest Losers (April 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	-2,601.40	360,922.32	-0.72%	-5,395.78
IWM	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Blackrock	-2,531.21	68,839.81	-3.68%	385.59
TLT	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	Blackrock	-2,099.89	12,487.27	-16.82%	-4,360.12
TQQQ	ProShares UltraPro QQQ	ProShares	-1,489.00	11,777.55	-12.64%	127.94
GLD	SPDR Gold Trust	State Street Global Advisors	-1,120.69	57,930.86	-1.93%	-8,637.41
SHV	iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	Blackrock	-952.61	14,964.55	-6.37%	-2,866.77
XLP	Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	-823.07	10,197.15	-8.07%	-3,255.24
USMV	iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF	Blackrock	-688.03	28,675.20	-2.40%	-6,269.97
MBB	iShares MBS ETF	Blackrock	-661.14	25,788.17	-2.56%	832.49
EWY	iShares MSCI South Korea ETF	Blackrock	-625.57	7,293.01	-8.58%	-546.42

Biggest Losers (Year-to-Date)

Ticker	Name	Issuer	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($M)	% of AUM	April 2021 Net Flows($,M)
LQD	iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Blackrock	-11,030.51	41,647.98	-26.49%	-592.98
GLD	SPDR Gold Trust	State Street Global Advisors	-8,637.41	57,930.86	-14.91%	-1,120.69
USMV	iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF	Blackrock	-6,269.97	28,675.20	-21.87%	-688.03
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	State Street Global Advisors	-5,395.78	360,922.32	-1.49%	-2,601.40
TLT	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	Blackrock	-4,360.12	12,487.27	-34.92%	-2,099.89
HYG	iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Blackrock	-4,185.35	21,649.41	-19.33%	435.88
XLP	Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	-3,255.24	10,197.15	-31.92%	-823.07
QUAL	iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF	Blackrock	-2,872.20	20,568.67	-13.96%	17.46
SHV	iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	Blackrock	-2,866.77	14,964.55	-19.16%	-952.61
JNK	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF	State Street Global Advisors	-2,115.45	10,427.10	-20.29%	-1.71

Asset Classes (April 2021)

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	31,819.44	3,640,649.31	0.87%
International Equity	17,381.23	1,240,730.21	1.40%
U.S. Fixed Income	22,347.68	1,004,146.78	2.23%
International Fixed Income	4,285.64	134,655.28	3.18%
Commodities	-841.93	133,740.16	-0.63%
Currency	-134.71	1,767.41	-7.62%
Leveraged	-2,145.22	57,543.09	-3.73%
Inverse	425.68	10,851.46	3.92%
Asset Allocation	590.73	15,624.58	3.78%
Alternatives	520.29	6,318.87	8.23%
Total:	74,248.83	6,246,027.16	1.19%

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	152,159.37	3,640,649.31	4.18%
International Equity	100,042.18	1,240,730.21	8.06%
U.S. Fixed Income	53,663.03	1,004,146.78	5.34%
International Fixed Income	13,952.75	134,655.28	10.36%
Commodities	-6,591.19	133,740.16	-4.93%
Currency	-129.29	1,767.41	-7.32%
Leveraged	1,526.28	57,543.09	2.65%
Inverse	2,340.90	10,851.46	21.57%
Asset Allocation	1,592.80	15,624.58	10.19%
Alternatives	1,741.24	6,318.87	27.56%
Total:	320,298.07	6,246,027.16	5.13%

April 2021 ETF Issuer League Table

Issuer	Net Flows ($,M)	AUM ($,M)	% of AUM	YTD 2021 Net Flows($,M)
Blackrock	17,561.80	2,238,851.76	0.78%	61,537.30
Vanguard	28,462.53	1,658,653.83	1.72%	114,120.41
State Street Global Advisors	5,562.84	949,398.00	0.59%	23,979.75
Invesco	1,870.45	337,574.29	0.55%	18,169.35
Charles Schwab	4,988.53	234,892.65	2.12%	15,707.24
First Trust	2,373.78	123,073.83	1.93%	8,684.38
Vanguard Group, Inc.	1,197.17	98,564.87	1.21%	3,708.83
JPMorgan Chase	2,881.68	60,229.39	4.78%	12,167.21
Van Eck Associates Corp.	1,351.94	58,432.22	2.31%	3,867.60
ProShares	-781.30	54,708.81	-1.43%	3,507.15
ARK	1,562.25	50,560.29	3.09%	17,612.69
WisdomTree	217.07	43,720.24	0.50%	1,514.51
Mirae Asset	1,738.84	31,647.59	5.49%	9,382.29
Fidelity	626.37	28,183.06	2.22%	2,129.13
PIMCO	555.62	27,082.91	2.05%	1,246.43
Direxion	-761.57	24,797.54	-3.07%	1,395.29
Goldman Sachs	-186.07	23,143.81	-0.80%	-533.91
Deutsche Bank	202.17	21,461.84	0.94%	197.59
Northern Trust	422.11	17,508.87	2.41%	1,654.60
CICC	1,162.74	9,854.52	11.80%	3,624.38
Franklin Templeton	166.72	9,180.69	1.82%	200.64
SS&C	-1.50	9,145.98	-0.02%	346.20
ETFMG	123.26	7,408.16	1.66%	1,103.76
Exchange Traded Concepts	85.35	6,841.99	1.25%	963.98
Aberdeen Standard Investments	31.63	6,835.35	0.46%	295.97
Pacer Advisors	176.61	6,703.53	2.63%	364.93
Victory Capital	-184.27	6,319.42	-2.92%	76.53
American Century Investments	514.91	6,037.71	8.53%	1,602.77
Grace Partners of Dupage LP	47.51	5,080.39	0.94%	519.37
Innovator	204.06	4,941.81	4.13%	662.23
John Hancock	49.96	4,938.67	1.01%	-714.12
Amplify Investments	126.41	4,873.81	2.59%	1,317.51
Principal	440.29	4,831.58	9.11%	590.32
US Commodity Funds	-165.06	4,476.75	-3.69%	-1,635.77
New York Life	-272.82	4,319.75	-6.32%	278.17
Janus Henderson	10.57	4,172.48	0.25%	233.94
US Global Investors	-36.19	3,986.92	-0.91%	473.75
The Hartford	-22.90	3,907.08	-0.59%	31.56
Nuveen Securities	148.72	3,795.01	3.92%	829.15
Barclays Capital Inc.	401.35	3,258.81	12.32%	1,302.25
BMO	0.00	2,738.29	0.00%	248.36
AdvisorShares	42.46	2,266.30	1.87%	1,224.79
Toroso Investments	-20.20	1,979.21	-1.02%	406.27
O’Shares Investments	-0.12	1,595.42	-0.01%	45.18
Prudential	73.69	1,557.98	4.73%	178.91
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC	52.51	1,521.98	3.45%	256.96
Vident	-3.13	1,499.37	-0.21%	-3.91
GraniteShares	38.76	1,453.15	2.67%	144.06
Defiance ETFs	69.55	1,431.96	4.86%	344.72
Davis Advisers	13.36	1,332.99	1.00%	71.60
Dimensional Holdings	174.76	1,265.37	13.81%	794.78
Aptus Capital Advisors	45.65	1,188.02	3.84%	160.60
Virtus Investment Partners	83.55	1,148.78	7.27%	180.24
UBS	-13.56	1,071.25	-1.27%	-36.26
Cambria	-11.31	1,015.36	-1.11%	114.72
Credit Suisse Group AG	41.94	949.42	4.42%	183.52
EMPIRICAL FINANCE LLC	15.50	939.21	1.65%	208.59
Main Management	27.38	929.28	2.95%	182.42
Inspire	23.16	911.16	2.54%	100.61
Transamerica Funds	0.00	792.55	0.00%	-29.97
BNY Mellon	41.70	778.02	5.36%	226.18
Renaissance Capital	-41.67	698.15	-5.97%	-53.07
Roundhill Investments	-20.08	671.98	-2.99%	322.38
Nationwide	22.32	647.26	3.45%	129.81
The Motley Fool	0.95	645.88	0.15%	57.14
Tortoise	26.14	526.45	4.97%	40.58
Strategy Shares	102.49	503.72	20.35%	279.04
Timothy Plan	7.66	451.98	1.69%	11.16
Merk	0.03	448.62	0.01%	35.91
TrimTabs	53.49	436.25	12.26%	39.60
SRN Advisors	14.89	403.83	3.69%	77.84
Teucrium	-12.62	389.05	-3.24%	5.69
Sprott, Inc.	-2.99	382.95	-0.78%	17.77
Al Marketing LLC	-2.40	370.83	-0.65%	-19.98
Howard Capital Management	12.10	355.34	3.40%	31.39
Distillate Capital	10.98	346.12	3.17%	92.93
Liquid Strategies	13.17	341.13	3.86%	35.71
Horizon Kinetics LLC	184.05	331.63	55.50%	311.47
Regents Park Funds	24.89	325.73	7.64%	55.35
Redwood Investment Management	-34.11	325.36	-10.48%	-125.44
ClearShares LLC	34.68	312.76	11.09%	34.65
WBI	-6.78	304.12	-2.23%	-42.64
Swedish Export Credit	21.86	287.81	7.59%	9.06
Simplify Asset Management Inc.	7.52	275.13	2.73%	143.46
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.	24.54	263.44	9.32%	91.11
Tuttle Tactical Management, LLC	-15.73	259.66	-6.06%	105.23
OBP Capital LLC	1.31	244.00	0.54%	116.87
Donald L. Hagan LLC	38.10	221.61	17.19%	64.64
EntrepreneurShares, LLC	-1.27	188.45	-0.67%	1.96
Intangible Capital	0.00	185.52	0.00%	-0.02
Core Alternative Capital	7.25	169.24	4.28%	24.04
Little Harbor Advisors	14.38	149.03	9.65%	82.22
Cboe Vest Financial LLC	34.09	146.58	23.25%	48.95
ProcureAM	-2.99	133.31	-2.24%	81.50
TrueMark Investments	9.48	122.99	7.70%	47.76
Syntax Advisors	0.00	116.80	0.00%	19.79
Gadsden	1.29	112.93	1.14%	9.92
Arrow Funds	0.00	112.50	0.00%	0.56
AGF	2.99	107.01	2.80%	-15.13
Wahed Invest LLC	8.20	102.85	7.98%	28.25
CornerCap Investment Counsel, Inc.	-0.01	100.58	-0.01%	27.47
Exponential ETFs	-0.29	96.84	-0.30%	1.20
Kingsview Partners LLC	5.74	85.94	6.68%	80.23
Wainwright, Inc.	54.16	75.44	71.79%	70.30
Pettee Investors	7.84	70.31	11.15%	17.76
Humankind USA LLC	9.31	66.75	13.95%	59.78
Natixis	3.80	64.11	5.92%	10.41
Change Finance	6.23	62.60	9.95%	23.85
Metaurus Advisors	0.98	61.87	1.58%	3.45
Advisors Asset Management	0.21	59.14	0.35%	9.52
Pacific Life	-0.11	57.15	-0.19%	-0.11
Impact Shares	10.30	56.46	18.24%	16.81
iM Square SAS	3.57	56.01	6.38%	-3.26
Beyond Investing	1.89	49.80	3.79%	8.99
Esoterica	-3.77	49.10	-7.68%	27.87
Absolute Investment Advisers LLC	0.00	47.81	-0.01%	7.09
Toews Corp.	0.00	44.71	0.00%	-4.51
Infusive Asset Management	0.00	44.02	0.00%	5.04
Highland Capital Management	0.02	43.56	0.04%	-9.77
Emles Advisors LLC	0.00	42.08	0.00%	-26.65
Premise Capital	-5.61	39.69	-14.12%	-13.27
Cabot ETF Partners LLC	-0.89	39.63	-2.25%	34.22
Swan Global Investments	3.87	35.82	10.80%	32.72
Neil Azous Revocable Trust	6.46	35.64	18.13%	14.72
Red Gate Advisers LLC	2.80	33.11	8.45%	5.01
Truist	1.39	29.95	4.65%	7.41
ETF Series Solutions	1.30	29.25	4.44%	2.48
MCCM Group LLC	-1.99	27.95	-7.12%	36.38
Guinness Atkinson Asset Management	0.37	27.37	1.36%	13.33
AlphaMark Advisors	0.00	26.35	0.00%	-1.41
Alger Group Holdings LLC	7.43	22.08	33.65%	15.93
Inverdale Capital Management LLC	5.12	21.02	24.36%	15.53
WisdomTree Investments, Inc.	0.00	18.62	0.00%	18.05
2nd Vote Value Investments, Inc	10.74	17.70	60.67%	11.42
Changebridge Capital LLC	0.56	17.10	3.25%	9.49
Gotham Asset Management Holdings	12.39	15.77	78.54%	13.41
The Leuthold Group LLC	-0.75	14.28	-5.28%	0.68
GAMCO Investors, Inc.	0.92	12.67	7.25%	6.46
Rayliant Investment Research	1.97	12.64	15.57%	10.14
Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC	0.00	11.45	0.00%	-1.20
Point Bridge Capital	0.88	10.76	8.14%	-0.83
EquBot	0.00	10.13	0.00%	3.34
Alternative Access Funds LLC	0.00	10.03	0.00%	0.00
Mairs & Power, Inc.	2.00	9.82	20.40%	9.75
Whitford Asset Management	6.20	9.43	65.70%	6.20
Ridgeline Research LLC	2.31	7.87	29.39%	4.45
New Age Alpha Advisors LLC	2.83	6.52	43.33%	4.77
Water Island Capital Partners LP	0.00	6.50	0.01%	0.00
Global Beta Advisors	0.58	5.05	11.49%	-2.99
Reflection Asset Management, LLC	0.00	3.27	0.00%	0.59
Wilshire Phoenix Funds LLC	0.00	1.78	0.00%	0.00
Democracy Investment Management LLC	0.64	1.30	49.07%	0.64
Eaton Vance Corp.	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.

Sumit Roy

| Contact: [email protected]

Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com, where he's worked for 12 years. Before joining the company, Roy was the managing editor and commodities analyst for Hard Assets Investor. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys climbing the city’s steep hills, playing pickleball and snowboarding.

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ETF Demand Relentless, $74B In April

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