Total U.S.-listed ETF assets slipped nearly 2 percent as investors yanked more than $5.5 billion out of ETFs in the week ended Thursday, Nov. 15.
Investors yanked more than $5.5 billion out of exchange-traded funds in the past week, notably from two of the ETF market’s biggest junk bond funds, as the gnawing anxiety about the U.S. “fiscal cliff” extended into a second week and spread to the most equity-like pocket of the fixed-income world.
Total U.S.-listed ETF assets fell almost 2 percent in the five-day period ended Thursday, Nov. 15, to $1.254 trillion from $1.279 trillion. The Dow Jones industrial average gave back 269 points, or 2.1 percent, in the period, fueling much of the drop in assets.
The market is clearly worried about the prospect of the U.S. Congress failing to properly address the so-called fiscal cliff by the end of the year. The concern is that Bush and Obama tax cuts won’t be extended—and spending cuts will be implemented as well—which together could jeopardize the fragile U.S. and global economic recovery.
In addition to the $3.77 billion that came out of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY), a total of $548.1 million came out of the nearly $16 billion iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (NYSEArca: HYG) and $279.1 million flowed out of the $11.64 billion SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (NYSEArca: JNK), according to data compiled by IndexUniverse.
Some market analysts saw the end to the nearly four-year junk bond rally, but it’s more likely that junk bonds are getting caught in the downdraft of equity markets, according to market sources.
Additionally, investors pulled $750 million of the Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: VWO), the latest sign that the asset flows in the world of developing market funds have shifted since Vanguard announced VWO would change indexes sometime next year.
All the selling in equities markets made the bond market more attractive, and indeed the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (NYSEArca: BND) was last week’s most popular ETF, with inflows of $365.2 million.
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| BND | Vanguard Total Bond Market | 365.20 | 17,690.53 | 2.11% |
| BIL | SPDR Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill | 293.18 | 1,497.99 | 24.33% |
| XLV | Health Care Select SPDR | 233.14 | 5,500.16 | 4.43% |
| XLU | Utilities Select SPDR | 215.85 | 5,852.14 | 3.83% |
| GDX | Market Vectors Gold Miners | 193.20 | 9,309.29 | 2.12% |
| IWD | iShares Russell 1000 Value | 188.21 | 12,998.39 | 1.47% |
| FXI | iShares FTSE China 25 | 183.96 | 6,132.04 | 3.09% |
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 | 161.77 | 5,652.92 | 2.95% |
| IWF | iShares Russell 1000 Growth | 150.31 | 15,887.11 | 0.96% |
| IYR | iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate | 146.92 | 4,777.44 | 3.17% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 | -3,772.38 | 100,911.89 | -3.60% |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 | -805.28 | 14,296.20 | -5.33% |
| VWO | Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets | -750.02 | 54,913.00 | -1.35% |
| HYG | iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond | -548.10 | 15,939.70 | -3.32% |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond | -328.95 | 25,283.32 | -1.28% |
| JNK | SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond | -279.10 | 11,644.09 | -2.34% |
| QQQ | PowerShares QQQ | -278.51 | 28,893.58 | -0.95% |
| XLI | Industrial Select SPDR | -249.16 | 3,129.54 | -7.37% |
| DIA | SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average Trust | -238.85 | 9,835.59 | -2.37% |
| MDY | SPDR S&P MidCap 400 | -225.94 | 8,596.67 | -2.56% |
ETF Weekly Daily Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | -5,555.38 | 548,759.41 | -1.01% |
| International Equity | 367.42 | 294,301.05 | 0.12% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | -870.10 | 225,895.77 | -0.39% |
| International Fixed Income | 437.46 | 24,254.83 | 1.80% |
| Commodities | -58.28 | 120,172.02 | -0.05% |
| Currency | 68.76 | 2,864.67 | 2.40% |
| Leveraged | 444.09 | 12,580.86 | 3.53% |
| Inverse | -350.73 | 19,050.98 | -1.84% |
| Asset Allocation | 8.99 | 2,214.20 | 0.41% |
| Alternatives | -81.86 | 3,922.72 | -2.09% |
| Total: | -5,589.63 | 1,254,016.52 | -0.45% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) |
1 Week Average Volume |
% of Average |
| ITF | iShares S&P/TOPIX 150 | 10,642 | 241,205 | 453.30% |
| PSCT | PowerShares S&P SmallCap Information Technology | 18,828 | 400,433 | 425.36% |
| SPYV | SPDR S&P 500 Value | 8,750 | 181,196 | 414.14% |
| JKH | iShares Morningstar Mid Growth | 10,140 | 189,359 | 373.47% |
| SLYV | SPDR S&P SmallCap 600 Value | 14,641 | 271,371 | 370.70% |
| PBS | PowerShares Dynamic Media | 160,740 | 2,969,967 | 369.54% |
| BRXX | EGShares Brazil Infrastructure | 36,826 | 623,383 | 338.55% |
| PXF | PowerShares FTSE RAFI Developed Markets ex-U.S. | 42,416 | 716,639 | 337.91% |
| KBWB | PowerShares KBW Bank | 416,190 | 7,028,055 | 337.73% |
| GTAA | AdvisorShares Cambria Global Tactical | 14,384 | 223,554 | 310.84% |
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| PTM | ETRACS CMCI Long Platinum Total Return ETN | 5.64% | 537,396 | 38.96 |
| NIB | iPath Dow Jones-UBS Cocoa Total Return ETN | 4.68% | 93,762 | 33.20 |
| CHOC | iPath Pure Beta Cocoa ETN | 4.50% | 24,687 | 5.59 |
| USV | ETRACS CMCI Silver Total Return ETN | 3.87% | 41,578 | 7.31 |
| NAGS | Teucrium Natural Gas | 3.37% | 5,308 | 5.10 |
| BAL | iPath Dow Jones-UBS Cotton Total Return ETN | 3.30% | 161,295 | 32.03 |
| UGA | United States Gasoline | 2.83% | 146,869 | 64.83 |
| EPOL | iShares MSCI Poland Investable Market | 2.81% | 974,191 | 132.91 |
| JJP | iPath Dow Jones-UBS Precious Metals Total Return ETN | 2.79% | 16,278 | 42.73 |
| PALL | ETFS Physical Palladium | 2.66% | 162,115 | 458.51 |
Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| GDXJ | Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners | -11.58% | 18,749,788 | 2,786.04 |
| GLDX | Global X Gold Explorers | -11.30% | 479,834 | 38.21 |
| GDX | Market Vectors Gold Miners | -10.58% | 84,145,395 | 9,309.29 |
| URA | Global X Uranium | -10.53% | 1,240,539 | 114.46 |
| RING | iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners | -10.35% | 64,666 | 37.05 |
| GGGG | Global X PURE Gold Miners | -10.18% | 64,627 | 4.23 |
| PSAU | PowerShares Global Gold and Precious Metals | -10.14% | 70,894 | 34.35 |
| TAN | Guggenheim Solar | -9.97% | 174,708 | 36.78 |
| SIL | Global X Silver Miners | -9.95% | 2,319,718 | 368.80 |
| JUNR | Global X Junior Miners ETF | -9.25% | 99,742 | 2.89 |
Top 10 YTD Performers
| Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
| ITB | iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction | 60.02 | -8.01 | 1,490.88 |
| EGPT | Market Vectors Egypt | 51.37 | -1.85 | 51.03 |
| TUR | iShares MSCI Turkey Investable Market | 48.86 | -2.10 | 613.94 |
| XHB | SPDR S&P Homebuilders | 43.59 | -6.20 | 1,830.37 |
| TAO | Guggenheim China Real Estate | 42.14 | 0.00 | 45.92 |
| INCO | EGShares India Consumer | 41.09 | 2.31 | 2.28 |
| BBH | Market Vectors Biotech | 39.83 | 1.58 | 137.57 |
| EPHE | iShares MSCI Philippines Investable Market | 35.86 | 0.25 | 155.13 |
| IFAS | iShares FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Asia | 35.13 | -0.63 | 32.13 |
| HGEM | EGShares Health Care GEMS | 31.37 | -1.07 | 2.09 |
Bottom 10 YTD Performers
| Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
| CVOL | C-Tracks Citi Volatility ETN | -74.45 | -6.64 | 6.26 |
| VXX | iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | -74.44 | -2.34 | 1,573.66 |
| VIIX | VelocityShares VIX Short Term ETN | -74.36 | -2.33 | 8.45 |
| VIXY | ProShares VIX Short-Term | -74.35 | -2.36 | 174.57 |
| KWT | Market Vectors Solar Energy | -48.64 | -7.90 | 8.56 |
| VIIZ | VelocityShares VIX Mid Term ETN | -47.97 | 0.14 | 5.74 |
| VXZ | iPath S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN | -47.69 | 0.28 | 107.90 |
| VIXM | ProShares VIX Mid-term | -47.57 | 0.34 | 105.46 |
| TAN | Guggenheim Solar | -46.96 | -9.97 | 36.78 |
| JO | iPath Dow Jones-UBS Coffee Total Return ETN | -38.84 | -2.81 | 43.35 |
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.
