VGSH Topped December Flows as Rates Stay High

Small cap fund IWM and core S&P ETF IVV each pulled in more than $1 bln.

Lucy Brewster

Finance Reporter

Jan 05, 2024

Reviewed by: Ron Day

Edited by: etf.com Staff

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With an improving stock market driving record inflows in the second half of 2023, assets in ETFs ballooned to nearly $8 trillion by the end of the year.

The $22 billion Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Index Fund (VGSH) came in first for inflows in December, accumulating $1.3 billion and rising 6.41% on the heels of the Federal Reserve declining to raise interest rates in November. In fact, fixed income reigned in terms of inflows in December. The month saw $24.1 billion into fixed income funds, bringing the 2023 total inflows to $210 billion, the second highest ever for bond ETFs in one year, according to State Street’s industry data.

The iShares Russel 2000 (IWM), which offers investors exposure to market weighted small cap stocks, saw $1.3 billion in inflows over December as the fund’s assets under management rose only 2% over the month.

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change<
VGSH	Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Index Fund	1,429.35	22,293.81	6.41%
IWM	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	1,320.33	67,849.72	1.95%
IVV	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	1,195.68	399,874.52	0.30%
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	995.75	347,957.33	0.29%
QQQ	Invesco QQQ Trust	657.02	230,067.86	0.29%
XLP	Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund	543.71	15,179.70	3.58%
TLT	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	531.66	51,626.56	1.03%
BNDX	Vanguard Total International Bond ETF	453.73	54,480.44	0.83%
BND	Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF	360.82	104,802.62	0.34%
IGSB	iShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	335.51	21,458.97	1.56%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	-1,660.42	493,539.33	-0.34%
SQQQ	ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ	-382.12	3,270.86	-11.68%
XLB	Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund	-286.28	5,070.06	-5.65%
USCL	iShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETF	-275.37	1,808.93	-15.22%
XLI	Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund	-273.53	15,335.70	-1.78%
DIA	SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust	-262.38	32,457.18	-0.81%
USCA	Xtrackers MSCI USA Climate Action Equity ETF	-260.43	1,866.76	-13.95%
IWB	iShares Russell 1000 ETF	-249.20	32,376.76	-0.77%
SH	ProShares Short S&P500	-200.16	1,261.25	-15.87%
BIL	SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF	-191.76	33,354.20	-0.57%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
Alternatives	-62.59	6,587.45	-0.95%
Asset Allocation	41.41	16,851.83	0.25%
Commodities	-66.50	131,706.55	-0.05%
Currency	23.27	3,553.13	0.65%
International Equity	1,218.60	1,375,048.21	0.09%
International Fixed Income	886.37	169,651.87	0.52%
Inverse	-1,637.67	13,973.85	-11.72%
Leveraged	1,516.09	85,397.06	1.78%
U.S. Equity	5,660.76	4,984,400.13	0.11%
U.S. Fixed Income	4,838.76	1,357,733.27	0.36%
Total:	12,418.51	8,144,903.35	0.15%

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
Alternatives	-107.48	6,587.45	-1.63%
Asset Allocation	-1,763.15	16,851.83	-10.46%
Commodities	-9,108.59	131,706.55	-6.92%
Currency	-834.00	3,553.13	-23.47%
International Equity	82,240.90	1,375,048.21	5.98%
International Fixed Income	30,109.89	169,651.87	17.75%
Inverse	3,094.98	13,973.85	22.15%
Leveraged	2,576.04	85,397.06	3.02%
U.S. Equity	306,651.12	4,984,400.13	6.15%
U.S. Fixed Income	175,383.58	1,357,733.27	12.92%
Total:	588,243.29	8,144,903.35	7.22%

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

Ticker	Name	Average Volume (30 Day)	1 Week Average Volume	% of Average
GFEB	FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - February	55,841	1,119,320.00	2,004.48%%
QMAR	FT Cboe Vest Nasdaq-100 Buffer ETF - March	65,800	1,186,112.00	1,802.61%%
CIL	VictoryShares International Volatility Wtd ETF	3,432	57,334.00	1,670.78%%
KAPR	Innovator U.S. Small Cap Power Buffer ETF - April	55,324	596,180.00	1,077.61%%
SVAL	iShares U.S. Small Cap Value Factor ETF	18,062	192,368.00	1,065.03%%
KJAN	Innovator U.S. Small Cap Power Buffer ETF - January	78,184	800,232.00	1,023.52%%
FLSP	Franklin Systematic Style Premia ETF	64,006	640,307.00	1,000.39%%
SCJ	iShares MSCI Japan Small-Cap ETF	16,222	158,760.00	978.69%%
FTXO	First Trust Nasdaq Bank ETF	64,597	585,282.00	906.06%%
FEMB	First Trust Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond ETF	79,305	700,089.00	882.78%%

Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded

Ticker	Name	Weekly Performance	Weekly Volume	AUM ($, mm)
BDRY	Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF	7.18%	589,670	61.11%
RAYS	Global X Solar ETF	4.61%	11,345	7.12%
CNXT	VanEck ChiNext ETF	4.39%	69,208	17.22%
KGRN	KraneShares MSCI China Clean Technology Index ETF	4.36%	34,018	66.91%
CANE	Teucrium Sugar Fund	4.28%	131,891	17.73%
UNG	United States Natural Gas Fund LP	3.84%	41,306,751	973.83%
KBUY	KraneShares CICC China Consumer Leaders Index ETF	3.80%	6,280	4.38%
KBA	KraneShares Bosera MSCI China A 50 Connect Index ETF	3.30%	244,857	280.23%
KFVG	KraneShares CICC China 5G & Semiconductor Index ETF	3.16%	6,570	11.18%
MCH	Matthews China Active ETF	3.11%	160,597	21.66%

Top 10 YTD Performers

Ticker	Name	YTD Performance	Weekly Performance	AUM ($, mm)
WGMI	Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF	304.07%	-5.75%	73.31%
DAPP	VanEck Digital Transformation ETF	285.02%	-4.84%	95.13%
SATO	Invesco Alerian Galaxy Crypto Economy ETF	266.36%	-4.48%	8.44%
BITQ	Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF	246.77%	-4.06%	143.36%
BITS	Global X Blockchain and Bitcoin Strategy ETF	214.01%	-15.19%	25.38%
IBLC	iShares Blockchain and Tech ETF	201.57%	-4.64%	19.02%
CRPT	First Trust SkyBridge Crypto Industry and Digital Economy ETF	193.86%	-4.31%	35.81%
FDIG	Fidelity Crypto Industry and Digital Payments ETF	166.00%	-3.59%	80.84%
BITO	ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF	137.33%	-2.30%	1,700.13%
GFOF	Grayscale Future of Finance ETF	136.23%	-7.39%	7.19%

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.

Lucy Brewster

| Contact: [email protected]

Lucy Brewster is a finance reporter at etf.com covering asset managers, emerging technologies, and regulation. She hosts etf.com webinars and appears on Exchange Traded Fridays, etf.com’s flagship podcast. She previously was a finance fellow at Fortune Magazine where she covered markets, investment strategy, and venture capital. She has also been a freelancer writer at the publication Mergers & Acquisitions and a research fellow at the Historic Hudson Valley.

She graduated from Vassar College in 2022 with a degree in History and was an editor of The Miscellany News, the college's award winning student run newspaper.

Lucy lives in Brooklyn, NY, and in her free time she loves to run and find new recipes to cook.

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