ETFs Add $55B In Sept

But the September Effect and a series of threats slowed ETF flows from the prior month.

etf.com Staff

Oct 01, 2021

Reviewed by: etf.com Staff

Edited by: etf.com Staff

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Flows into the U.S.-listed ETF industry slowed from $66.8 billion in August to just under $55.5 billion in September, as the traditional worst month of the year for returns was matched with bouts of volatility.

U.S. ETFs have gained more than $647.8 billion in inflows as of the end of the third quarter, according to ETF.com data provider FactSet, while assets under management now stand just short of $6.65 trillion.

Growth Fears, Volatility Shake Equities

After months of near-constant bullish sentiment, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and fears of defaults from both the Chinese megadeveloper Evergrande and the U.S. government led to two days of sell-offs above 1.5% in the S&P 500.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) had the most outflows off the month, with nearly $3.1 billion pulled and a quarter of its year-to-date gains erased, followed by the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF), with $1.5 billion in outflows.

Tech ETFs were also caught in sell-offs amid a late spike in bond yields and a Federal Reserve meeting that signaled continued confidence toward a taper of its bond-buying program and an eventual rate hike. The 10-year Treasury yield started the month at 1.28% before rising to a high of 1.55% in the final week of September.

The ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) saw $902 million in outflows for a loss of almost 4.7% of its assets under management, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) lost $721.4 million.

Yet investors continued to drive net inflows into broad vanilla indexes on the month. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was far and away the largest gainer, with nearly $7.5 billion added in the month, followed by the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), with inflows of $3.8 billion and $3.8 billion, respectively.

Leveraged Funds Reverse YTD Outflows

Dip-buyers took aggressive positions within leveraged ETFs during bouts of volatility this month. The leveraged ETF class ended August with a net outflow of almost $1.1 billion on the year, but gained $4.5 billion in September to end the month with a year-to-date inflow of $3.5 billion.

The leading ETF in the segment was the ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ), which gained a net $2.9 billion in new assets on the month and reversed the $1.3 billion in outflows it had coming into the month.

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

Top Gainers (September 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	7,447.50	390,986.53	1.90%	10,452.90
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	Vanguard	3,883.61	249,759.92	1.55%	40,472.29
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	Vanguard	3,843.99	265,719.50	1.45%	31,679.99
TQQQ	ProShares UltraPro QQQ	ProShares	2,901.99	14,959.44	19.40%	1,672.54
IYR	iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF	Blackrock	2,337.23	7,431.63	31.45%	1,184.76
BND	Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF	Vanguard	1,396.87	81,987.92	1.70%	15,917.43
XLE	Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	1,333.32	25,446.13	5.24%	5,843.34
BSV	Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF	Vanguard	1,123.96	42,165.55	2.67%	12,975.03
VXUS	Vanguard Total International Stock ETF	Vanguard	1,106.09	49,908.34	2.22%	9,693.40
AGG	iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	Blackrock	1,076.86	89,462.51	1.20%	6,657.68

Top Gainers (Year-to-Date)

Ticker	Name	Issuer	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($M)	% of AUM	September 2021 Net Flows($,M)
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	Vanguard	40,472.29	249,759.92	16.20%	3,883.61
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	Vanguard	31,679.99	265,719.50	11.92%	3,843.99
BND	Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF	Vanguard	15,917.43	81,987.92	19.41%	1,396.87
BSV	Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF	Vanguard	12,975.03	42,165.55	30.77%	1,123.96
VTV	Vanguard Value ETF	Vanguard	12,488.04	84,040.22	14.86%	1,052.18
IVV	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Blackrock	11,909.52	290,363.83	4.10%	-3,088.05
IEMG	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	Blackrock	10,719.76	78,224.29	13.70%	986.72
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	State Street Global Advisors	10,452.90	390,986.53	2.67%	7,447.50
VXUS	Vanguard Total International Stock ETF	Vanguard	9,693.40	49,908.34	19.42%	1,106.09
IUSB	iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF	Blackrock	9,688.87	15,510.82	62.47%	273.55

Biggest Losers (September 2021)

Ticker	Name	Issuer	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($M)	% of AUM	YTD 2021 Net Flows($,M)
IVV	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Blackrock	-3,088.05	290,363.83	-1.06%	11,909.52
XLF	Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	-1,517.95	41,563.47	-3.65%	8,188.85
LQD	iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Blackrock	-1,341.52	40,867.16	-3.28%	-12,589.84
XLV	Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	-1,020.08	31,137.04	-3.28%	2,159.33
XLI	Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	-990.83	17,571.39	-5.64%	-792.52
XLP	Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	-978.81	12,003.85	-8.15%	-1,600.43
DIA	SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust	State Street Global Advisors	-916.03	28,857.11	-3.17%	1,466.36
ARKK	ARK Innovation ETF	ARK	-902.25	19,275.57	-4.68%	5,282.84
QUAL	iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF	Blackrock	-836.68	23,273.38	-3.59%	-1,091.63
XLK	Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund	State Street Global Advisors	-721.37	43,172.68	-1.67%	-848.85

Biggest Losers (Year-to-Date)

Ticker	Name	Issuer	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($M)	% of AUM	September 2021 Net Flows($,M)
LQD	iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Blackrock	-12,589.84	40,867.16	-30.81%	-1,341.52
GLD	SPDR Gold Trust	State Street Global Advisors	-10,055.61	55,275.95	-18.19%	-563.34
USMV	iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF	Blackrock	-8,701.83	27,237.83	-31.95%	-285.43
HYG	iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Blackrock	-6,485.76	19,414.78	-33.41%	-552.17
SHV	iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	Blackrock	-3,838.99	13,986.19	-27.45%	-347.97
JNK	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF	State Street Global Advisors	-3,535.53	9,049.99	-39.07%	-415.70
EFAV	iShares MSCI EAFE Min Vol Factor ETF	Blackrock	-2,660.07	8,231.03	-32.32%	-46.86
USO	United States Oil Fund LP	Concierge Technologies	-2,523.11	2,606.78	-96.79%	-261.36
IVW	iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF	Blackrock	-2,091.55	35,321.94	-5.92%	-176.19
IHI	iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF	Blackrock	-1,900.78	8,495.40	-22.37%	188.91

Asset Classes (September 2021)

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	25,516.16	3,917,306.70	0.65%
International Equity	9,192.66	1,262,651.33	0.73%
U.S. Fixed Income	13,961.97	1,084,000.53	1.29%
International Fixed Income	1,293.41	149,052.95	0.87%
Commodities	-811.69	134,065.00	-0.61%
Currency	-25.09	1,884.82	-1.33%
Leveraged	4,549.83	62,140.89	7.32%
Inverse	538.38	13,123.76	4.10%
Asset Allocation	633.99	18,458.28	3.43%
Alternatives	121.20	6,815.49	1.78%
Total:	54,970.83	6,649,499.74	0.83%

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	306,386.63	3,917,306.70	7.82%
International Equity	171,209.31	1,262,651.33	13.56%
U.S. Fixed Income	129,493.54	1,084,000.53	11.95%
International Fixed Income	28,748.03	149,052.95	19.29%
Commodities	-4,077.92	134,065.00	-3.04%
Currency	17.75	1,884.82	0.94%
Leveraged	3,475.91	62,140.89	5.59%
Inverse	5,689.07	13,123.76	43.35%
Asset Allocation	4,190.83	18,458.28	22.70%
Alternatives	2,680.53	6,815.49	39.33%
Total:	647,813.69	6,649,499.74	9.74%

September 2021 ETF Issuer League Table

Issuer	Net Flows ($,M)	AUM ($,M)	% of AUM	YTD 2021 Net Flows($,M)
Blackrock	9,387.60	2,312,688.69	0.41%	131,010.13
Vanguard	22,726.58	1,915,197.92	1.19%	253,820.58
State Street Global Advisors	4,249.25	998,153.56	0.43%	53,805.80
Invesco	1,235.11	367,351.68	0.34%	36,438.87
Charles Schwab	3,719.36	253,411.05	1.47%	31,837.53
First Trust	1,525.70	138,606.23	1.10%	18,648.85
JPMorgan Chase	1,208.49	68,987.27	1.75%	20,822.60
ProShares	3,530.39	60,686.31	5.82%	8,422.27
VanEck	321.97	58,935.86	0.55%	7,918.69
WisdomTree	334.94	45,027.07	0.74%	3,137.01
ARK	-1,859.17	38,283.31	-4.86%	11,659.72
Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Ltd.	1,449.68	37,995.54	3.82%	15,882.30
Dimensional Holdings	460.19	31,889.15	1.44%	2,611.04
Fidelity	194.72	30,915.68	0.63%	4,017.56
Allianz	634.78	27,462.37	2.31%	1,536.25
Direxion	1,579.25	25,175.76	6.27%	1,781.70
Goldman Sachs	309.95	24,809.69	1.25%	623.27
Deutsche Bank	542.49	23,111.87	2.35%	2,045.96
Northern Trust	-122.62	18,442.41	-0.66%	2,847.69
CICC	1,187.75	13,227.86	8.98%	9,566.10
Franklin Templeton	114.20	9,336.20	1.22%	329.27
SS&C	-113.11	8,737.87	-1.29%	49.48
Pacer Advisors	210.72	8,539.51	2.47%	2,028.12
American Century Investments	158.11	8,001.58	1.98%	3,477.66
Exchange Traded Concepts	328.55	7,559.79	4.35%	2,086.25
ETFMG	4.97	6,729.41	0.07%	1,294.43
Crestview	-57.24	6,601.60	-0.87%	309.13
Standard Life Aberdeen	-13.44	6,548.56	-0.21%	765.06
Innovator	95.84	5,609.17	1.71%	1,283.74
Principal	64.96	5,442.11	1.19%	1,079.88
Manulife	19.42	5,067.66	0.38%	-576.49
Nuveen Securities	53.57	4,721.53	1.13%	1,692.91
New York Life	75.72	4,553.46	1.66%	492.25
Amplify Investments	-3.50	4,416.75	-0.08%	1,335.88
Janus Henderson	32.12	4,154.20	0.77%	229.49
The Hartford	-81.41	4,129.45	-1.97%	268.00
Concierge Technologies	-279.63	3,977.36	-7.03%	-2,928.01
US Global Investors	224.99	3,869.76	5.81%	698.62
Barclays	-47.12	3,253.17	-1.45%	1,440.23
BMO	162.29	3,105.07	5.23%	615.25
Toroso Investments	117.91	2,641.08	4.46%	1,022.57
Prudential	37.26	2,110.42	1.77%	734.88
AdvisorShares	58.48	2,083.13	2.81%	1,407.99
Ameriprise Financial	55.14	1,684.37	3.27%	426.13
Aptus Capital Advisors	120.53	1,611.11	7.48%	594.27
O’Shares Investments	-21.70	1,498.81	-1.45%	-21.71
GraniteShares	16.61	1,496.89	1.11%	188.22
Defiance ETFs	13.79	1,488.69	0.93%	427.01
Vident	0.74	1,454.47	0.05%	-39.76
Virtus Investment Partners	18.76	1,326.04	1.41%	357.12
UBS	-14.94	1,234.12	-1.21%	-72.68
Davis Advisers	-9.46	1,232.40	-0.77%	115.04
Rational Capital LLC	190.89	1,201.21	15.89%	990.55
Cambria	8.57	1,108.77	0.77%	249.80
Inspire	18.95	1,056.15	1.79%	231.37
Nationwide	103.22	1,029.21	10.03%	516.55
Main Management	8.84	1,023.01	0.86%	258.48
The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.	66.57	1,022.97	6.51%	441.47
Credit Suisse Group AG	1.51	1,003.62	0.15%	284.20
EMPIRICAL FINANCE LLC	13.32	989.63	1.35%	279.86
Aegon	-4.47	782.81	-0.57%	-45.90
Simplify Asset Management Inc.	86.24	716.81	12.03%	570.90
The Motley Fool	7.59	692.82	1.10%	82.98
Horizon Kinetics LLC	34.98	692.43	5.05%	674.22
Roundhill Investments	47.31	600.84	7.87%	328.17
Howard Capital Management	28.25	543.28	5.20%	194.92
Merk	58.60	541.86	10.82%	142.14
Renaissance Capital	-11.91	519.05	-2.30%	-217.23
Redwood Investment Management	64.16	510.48	12.57%	53.82
Timothy Plan	8.73	494.40	1.76%	50.18
Tortoise	-19.13	482.39	-3.97%	-16.08
TrimTabs	21.27	439.91	4.84%	29.77
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.	21.34	429.66	4.97%	231.46
Liquid Strategies	8.63	421.70	2.05%	105.89
Distillate Capital	7.38	403.46	1.83%	145.47
ProFund Advisors LLC	27.72	363.89	7.62%	362.07
Regents Park Funds	2.49	353.78	0.70%	81.07
SRN Advisors	3.36	352.40	0.95%	49.79
ClearShares LLC	9.97	348.58	2.86%	99.46
Al Marketing LLC	-6.52	333.55	-1.95%	-57.04
Sprott	-2.01	311.39	-0.64%	17.90
Donald L. Hagan LLC	21.30	299.36	7.12%	130.89
Government of Sweden	-6.26	283.67	-2.21%	-12.25
WBI	0.00	283.21	0.00%	-6.79
Teucrium	-15.76	274.65	-5.74%	-112.28
Little Harbor Advisors	36.93	250.64	14.74%	185.77
Core Alternative Capital	17.83	228.79	7.79%	82.57
Mcivy Co. LLC	4.59	205.57	2.23%	126.19
Intangible Capital	2.46	197.17	1.25%	4.94
Cavalier16	7.11	195.57	3.63%	45.57
Syntax Advisors	0.03	191.66	0.02%	48.08
TrueMark Investments	-0.18	174.55	-0.10%	98.36
Capital Impact Advisors	0.00	171.99	0.00%	-7.14
Impact Shares	9.68	164.57	5.88%	123.93
Wahed	10.76	144.09	7.47%	65.41
Advisors Asset Management	10.82	143.76	7.53%	95.05
Tuttle Tactical Management, LLC	-4.27	143.53	-2.98%	-3.52
Arrow Funds	9.72	137.92	7.05%	7.03
ProcureAM	-5.48	123.59	-4.43%	70.26
Gadsden	0.64	117.53	0.54%	19.43
Swan Global Investments	8.43	116.50	7.23%	111.71
Kingsview Partners LLC	2.71	113.79	2.38%	106.15
Wainwright, Inc.	4.27	111.66	3.83%	94.52
AGF	-0.37	108.00	-0.34%	-15.38
CornerCap Investment Counsel, Inc.	-1.01	103.68	-0.97%	28.06
Humankind USA LLC	5.67	96.33	5.89%	87.59
Emles Advisors LLC	-0.88	93.13	-0.94%	24.64
Change Finance	3.27	91.92	3.56%	51.99
Neil Azous Revocable Trust	23.58	87.58	26.92%	66.32
Pettee Investors	2.05	81.21	2.52%	27.94
Exponential ETFs	0.00	79.66	0.00%	1.20
Metaurus Advisors	3.98	70.37	5.65%	10.91
Groupe BPCE	-8.43	64.57	-13.06%	9.62
Beyond Investing	2.03	63.35	3.20%	20.68
Alger Group Holdings LLC	2.56	52.03	4.93%	41.75
Guinness Atkinson Asset Management	-2.07	51.39	-4.03%	13.00
Toews Corp.	1.42	50.80	2.80%	1.80
Absolute Investment Advisers LLC	0.00	50.74	0.00%	10.53
Alexis Investment Partners LLC	2.58	42.51	6.07%	25.31
Infusive Asset Management	-1.69	42.21	-3.99%	6.84
Esoterica	-3.01	41.11	-7.31%	17.77
ETF Series Solutions	5.02	40.12	12.51%	11.02
Rayliant Investment Research	1.92	39.49	4.87%	40.68
Premise Capital	0.00	39.48	0.00%	-14.10
Formidable Asset Management	1.28	39.38	3.26%	39.67
Highland Capital Management	-3.23	38.63	-8.35%	-14.62
2nd Vote Value Investments, Inc	1.70	38.10	4.47%	30.41
Inverdale Capital Management LLC	2.68	37.95	7.05%	31.50
Red Gate Advisers LLC	0.40	36.07	1.11%	6.27
Cabot ETF Partners LLC	-0.82	31.92	-2.56%	32.34
Pacific Life	0.00	31.77	0.00%	2.44
New Age Alpha Advisors LLC	18.77	29.08	64.53%	27.31
Ridgeline Research LLC	4.98	27.47	18.12%	23.92
AlphaMark Advisors	0.00	26.04	0.00%	-1.41
Power Corporation of Canada	-0.72	25.42	-2.82%	2.77
Truist	0.00	25.16	0.00%	2.38
Uncommon Investment Advisors LLC	1.05	24.80	4.24%	23.89
Knights of Columbus	1.77	22.55	7.87%	23.13
MCCM Group LLC	-1.79	18.05	-9.93%	30.40
Changebridge Capital LLC	0.56	17.85	3.12%	10.96
The Leuthold Group LLC	0.00	15.12	0.00%	1.43
Mairs & Power, Inc.	0.76	15.00	5.05%	15.06
Applied Finance Group	0.67	14.98	4.50%	13.84
ASYMmetric ETFs	1.66	14.82	11.22%	14.75
GAMCO Investors, Inc.	0.00	14.06	0.00%	7.55
Point Bridge Capital	0.94	13.80	6.79%	1.94
EquBot	0.00	11.68	0.00%	4.82
Future Fund Advisors	7.07	11.23	63.01%	11.61
Alternative Access Funds LLC	0.00	10.03	0.00%	0.00
Whitford Asset Management	0.00	9.38	0.00%	5.85
Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC	0.00	9.05	0.00%	-3.60
Water Island Capital Partners LP	0.00	7.84	0.03%	1.29
Jacob Asset Management	0.41	7.29	5.59%	7.47
Charger Corp.	6.73	6.38	105.52%	6.73
Global Beta Advisors	0.02	4.96	0.30%	-2.97
Reflection Asset Management, LLC	0.73	4.91	14.94%	2.02
Spear Advisors LLC	2.04	4.01	50.76%	4.05
Democracy Investment Management LLC	0.00	3.86	-0.01%	3.28
Lifegoal Investments LLC	1.74	2.92	59.59%	1.74
Zacks Investment Management	1.24	1.91	64.88%	1.97
Wilshire Phoenix Funds LLC	0.00	1.73	0.00%	0.00
Chadds Ford Investment Management LLC	0.00	0.74	0.00%	0.75
Lyrical Partners	0.00	0.63	0.00%	0.00
Litman Gregory Capital Partners LLC	2.82	0.00	0.00%	20.26
Eaton Vance Corp.	0.00	0.00	0.00%	0.00
Cohanzick Management	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.

etf.com Staff

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