ETFs Lose $6B In April

The U.S. ETF industry lost just over $6.1 billion in net assets during April as a combination of rising rates, inflation, war in Ukraine and faltering tech giants sent dollars flowing out of equity funds. 

The loss is the first monthly net outflow since August 2019. U.S.-listed funds even managed to produce a relatively small net inflow of approximately $175 million in March 2020 after the introduction of COVID-19-forced lockdowns. 

U.S.-listed ETFs have garnered $191.8 billion in net new assets year-to-date and manage more than $6.69 trillion in assets as of close of trading Friday. 

Flight From Broad Equity 

Capital fled en masse from ETFs focused on U.S. equities, with ETF.com data provider FactSet estimating investors pulled just under $28 billion from the asset class in April. That outflow dwarfs the $8.2 billion and $5.6 billion worth of inflows into international equity and U.S. fixed income ETFs, respectively. 

The three largest ETFs in the industry took the brunt of the outflows on the month when the S&P 500 tumbled 9.3%. The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) had the largest outflow on the month, with $11.6 billion in losses, followed by the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), with $10.4 billion in outflows. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) lost $10.2 billion in the month. 

The top Russell index-tracking ETFs also struggled, with the iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) losing $1.4 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively. 

Fears over sky-high inflation and slowing economic growth led to $4.3 billion in outflows from the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF), far outpacing any theoretical gains that banks would reap from a Fed turned hawkish. 

One bright spot for broad equities in the month was the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY), which led all equity ETFs, with $2.4 billion in inflows. 

Bond Funds Top Inflows 

Investors sent several bond ETFs to the top of the inflows list as they sought safety from volatile moves in equities. 

The Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF (SCHR) added more than $2.5 billion to lead all ETFs, while the SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) saw $2.3 billion in inflows, marking a significant move into a fund offering an effectively risk-free place to park money. 

The iShares National Muni Bond ETF (MUB) added $1.5 billion to round out U.S.-domiciled government bond funds in the top 10, while the SPDR Bloomberg Emerging Markets Local Bond ETF (EBND) took in $1.3 billion. 

Investment-grade corporate debt also appeared on the top of the inflows chart as a key AAA-rated yield index added 60 basis points over the month. The iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) gained $1.6 billion during April, while the SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) saw outflows of $1.2 billion. 

Leverage Abound 

The month’s bearish sentiment didn’t stop billions of dollars from being dropped into triple-leveraged bull bets on semiconductors and the Nasdaq-100. 

The Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (SOXL) added $2.2 billion as traders bet on the industry to pop on positive earnings, while the ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) added $1.8 billion in a contrarian play to names like Netflix and Tesla stumbling throughout the month. 

While both funds lost more than 37% in the month, there were a few days when well-timed investors could have gotten in and out of quick trades with sharp gains. 

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

Top Gainers (April 2022)

Top Gainers (Year-to-Date)

Biggest Losers (April 2022)

Biggest Losers (Year-to-Date)

Asset Classes (April 2022)

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

April 2022 ETF Issuer League Table

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.