2016 Flows Approach Record After Weekly Flows Of $15B

Investors continued to plow money into ETFs at a breakneck pace during the first week of December. After adding $48 billion to U.S.-listed ETFs in November, they added $14.6 billion to the space in the week ending Thursday, Dec. 8. Year-to-date inflows now total $229.5 billion, according to FactSet. That puts 2016's flows within range of 2014's record annual flows of $244 billion. 

Once again, U.S. equity ETFs took in the largest haul of the weekly flows, at $11.4 billion. All of the major U.S. stock market benchmarks roared to record highs this week. The S&P 500 reached as high as 2,255 on Friday, a gain of 2.9% week-over-week. Including dividends, the index is up 12.6% year-to-date.

Meanwhile, international equity ETFs and U.S. fixed-income ETFs were two other segments to see notable inflows. International equity had inflows just shy of $2 billion, while U.S. fixed-income had inflows of $2.4 billion. In the past week, stocks around the world rallied along with their U.S. counterparts, but not to the same degree. Meanwhile, the rout in U.S. bond markets slowed during the period, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield last hovering near 2.48%

For the week, the segment with the largest ouflows were commodities. All together, $1.1 billion came out of such ETFs, with oil and gold products seeing the brunt of the redemptions.

Financials & Junk Bonds Take In Assets
The top inflows list was made up of familiar ETF giants. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) took in $5.2 billion in assets alone. Following far behind was the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF), with inflows of $614 million. Financials, of course, are anticipated to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of President-elect Trump's economic policies and the recent spike in interest rates.

Two other sector ETFs that made an appearance on the weekly flows list were the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI). They saw creations of $424 million and $387 million, respectively.

Meanwhile, the SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) took the No. 3 spot on the weekly top inflows list. Though the rout in Treasurys has weighed on junk bonds to some extent, they've outperformed, as investors now see a lower chance of default amid faster economic growth and a rebound in crude oil prices.

For similar reasons, the PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio (BKLN) found favor with investors. The high-yield fund rounded out the top 10, with $378 million of inflows for the week.

UWTI & Oil ETFs Lose Assets
On the outflows side, the PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ) easily took the top spot, with redemptions of $2.3 billion. The iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) followed suit, with outflows of $525 million. Like Treasurys, investment-grade corporate bonds got hammered in the month following Trump's election.

Also falling out of favor during the week were four commodity-related ETFs. The VelocityShares 3x Long Crude Oil ETN (UWTI) saw outflows of $508 million. The ETN was officially delisted from the NYSE on Thursday, but still had $574 million in assets at the close of trading on that day. As of Friday, the ETN was still trading briskly, though prices were significantly below fair value. 

The United States Oil Fund (USO) and the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) were another pair of energy ETFs to see heavy outflows during the week, with redemptions of $483 million and $463 million, respectively. Oil prices ended this week largely flat, around $51.50, after surging 12% last week on the announced OPEC production cut.

Other notable funds on this week's outflows list were the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), with redemptions of $347 million; the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), with redemptions of $329 million; and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB), with redemptions of $321 million. 

On Friday, gold prices hit a fresh 10-month low around $1,156/oz, while biotech stocks ended the week close to unchanged after falling sharply during November.

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

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

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.