Exchange Traded Fridays Returns: August's Big ETF Flows

Fixed income's big moment has arrived while utility ETFs are beating the S&P 500.

In this first episode of the newly revamped Exchange Traded Fridays podcast, etf.com's Senior Analyst Sumit Roy and Wealth Management editor Jeff Benjamin are joined by Editor in Chief Kristin Myers and Research Lead Kent Thune to discuss record ETF inflows, BlackRock's big bond milestone, and the state of markets as we head into the rockiest part of the year. 

Fund inflows topped $71 billion in August, putting them on pace to match 2023's record $900 billion in inflows. But will they top $1 trillion for the first time ever? Some top gainers for inflows are that of fixed income ETFs like the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) and the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), which have seen increased investor interest ahead of Fed rate cuts.

And thanks to AGG and TLT, no one is leading the pack more than BlackRock, whose bond ETFs have hit the $1 trillion mark, representing roughly 40% of the total global bond ETF market.

Utilities and consumer staples ETFs are also having their moment in the sun as a cloudy economic picture has increased investor interest in defensive funds.