2020 ETF Inflows Hit Record $509B
2020 inflows top $509 billion, blowing past the previous record of $476.1 billion.
A crescendo of buying in financial markets pushed annual ETF inflows to records for the first time since 2017. On net, investors added $53.4 billion to U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, Dec. 17.
Though some of the inflows could be due to tax-related heartbeat trades, they were enough to push 2020's year-to-date inflows up to a whopping $509.4 billion, blowing past 2017's record of $476.1 billion. For comparison, year-to-date inflows stood at $342.2 billion at this same time a year ago.
To be sure, 2020's record isn't "official" until year end; a sudden bout of outflows in the last two weeks of the year could push the annual figure down. On the other hand, the number could swell further.
Equities Surpass Fixed Income
While U.S. fixed income ETFs led the way for flows throughout much of the year, U.S. equity ETF flows finally surpassed them as stocks pushed to record highs this week. The S&P 500 briefly topped 3,725 on Thursday, pushing its returns for the year to more than 17%.
U.S. stocks have been on a tear since bottoming out in March, and investors have added $187.4 billion to U.S. equity ETFs so far this year. That compares to inflows of $177.8 billion for U.S. fixed income ETFs.
In contrast to the gains in stocks, Treasuries have largely been selling off in recent weeks, albeit slowly and with the support of the Federal Reserve limiting their downside. The 10-year Treasury yield, which moves inversely to the bond price, hit a high of 0.95% this week, close to its highest levels since March.
Meanwhile, international equity ETFs have pulled in $62.1 billion of new money so far this while, while commodities registered $39.5 billion of inflows in the same period.
'VTI' Leads The Way
In terms of individual ETFs, the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) leads the way, with year-to-date inflows of $32.1 billion; followed by the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) with $21.7 billion; and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) with $16.6 billion.
On the outflows side, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) has seen redemptions of $33.6 billion; the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) has seen redemptions of $11.8 billion; and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) has seen redemptions of $4.6 billion.
For a full list of the latest inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
VXF | Vanguard Extended Market ETF | 5,124.73 | 18,838.49 | 27.20% |
IVW | iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF | 3,511.45 | 35,419.73 | 9.91% |
XLY | Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund | 2,873.51 | 21,126.42 | 13.60% |
VB | Vanguard Small-Cap ETF | 2,420.95 | 39,072.23 | 6.20% |
VO | Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF | 2,085.66 | 43,490.18 | 4.80% |
VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 2,003.82 | 176,376.51 | 1.14% |
VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 1,847.20 | 199,120.22 | 0.93% |
SPYV | SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Value ETF | 1,432.50 | 8,813.83 | 16.25% |
IEMG | iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF | 1,419.05 | 66,203.48 | 2.14% |
XBI | SPDR S&P Biotech ETF | 1,261.59 | 8,554.06 | 14.75% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -6,929.61 | 316,358.92 | -2.19% |
IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | -2,979.60 | 236,449.45 | -1.26% |
HYG | iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -1,213.11 | 24,741.64 | -4.90% |
GLD | SPDR Gold Trust | -709.07 | 69,521.94 | -1.02% |
BBEU | JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF | -357.54 | 4,117.01 | -8.68% |
LQD | iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | -301.51 | 55,152.44 | -0.55% |
JNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF | -281.17 | 12,299.14 | -2.29% |
IEF | iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF | -276.26 | 15,401.73 | -1.79% |
DIA | SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust | -196.74 | 25,566.74 | -0.77% |
SHV | iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF | -174.62 | 18,391.35 | -0.95% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | 39,014.18 | 3,089,165.75 | 1.26% |
International Equity | 10,374.59 | 1,035,860.86 | 1.00% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 2,722.33 | 961,926.24 | 0.28% |
International Fixed Income | 1,544.04 | 122,264.47 | 1.26% |
Commodities | -453.12 | 140,479.68 | -0.32% |
Currency | 24.72 | 1,891.42 | 1.31% |
Leveraged | -10.45 | 44,955.86 | -0.02% |
Inverse | 12.55 | 11,412.21 | 0.11% |
Asset Allocation | 96.75 | 13,262.96 | 0.73% |
Alternatives | 43.64 | 5,262.06 | 0.83% |
Total: | 53,369.23 | 5,426,481.52 | 0.98% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | 187,356.94 | 3,089,165.75 | 6.06% |
International Equity | 62,059.20 | 1,035,860.86 | 5.99% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 177,789.77 | 961,926.24 | 18.48% |
International Fixed Income | 24,036.25 | 122,264.47 | 19.66% |
Commodities | 39,507.90 | 140,479.68 | 28.12% |
Currency | 540.06 | 1,891.42 | 28.55% |
Leveraged | 1,279.33 | 44,955.86 | 2.85% |
Inverse | 13,684.66 | 11,412.21 | 119.91% |
Asset Allocation | 2,871.74 | 13,262.96 | 21.65% |
Alternatives | 305.14 | 5,262.06 | 5.80% |
Total: | 509,430.97 | 5,426,481.52 | 9.39% |
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
DWCR | Arrow DWA Tactical International ETF | 12.72% | 3,413 | 12.48 |
TAN | Invesco Solar ETF | 9.93% | 7,052,913 | 3,190.80 |
SILJ | ETFMG Prime Junior Silver Miners ETF | 8.48% | 4,372,341 | 537.12 |
URNM | North Shore Global Uranium Mining ETF | 7.89% | 300,352 | 35.67 |
CNRG | SPDR S&P Kensho Clean Power ETF | 7.67% | 167,666 | 226.21 |
CTEC | Global X CleanTech ETF | 7.41% | 249,456 | 37.69 |
BLOK | Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF | 7.34% | 1,303,494 | 264.78 |
SLVP | iShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners ETF | 6.56% | 525,290 | 218.79 |
ICLN | iShares Global Clean Energy ETF | 6.18% | 18,035,517 | 3,662.95 |
SLV | iShares Silver Trust | 6.11% | 86,025,092 | 13,924.90 |
Top 10 YTD Performers
Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
ARKG | ARK Genomic Revolution ETF | 185.32% | -2.65% | 6,022.99 |
TAN | Invesco Solar ETF | 179.35% | 9.93% | 3,190.80 |
PBW | Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF | 162.00% | 5.86% | 1,842.66 |
ARKW | ARK Next Generation Internet ETF | 150.77% | 1.25% | 4,984.85 |
QCLN | First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund | 149.12% | 5.21% | 1,688.51 |
ARKK | ARK Innovation ETF | 148.25% | 0.06% | 16,422.94 |
IBUY | Amplify Online Retail ETF | 112.22% | 4.95% | 1,332.69 |
PBD | Invesco Global Clean Energy ETF | 112.10% | 5.75% | 250.14 |
IPO | Renaissance IPO ETF | 110.43% | -0.50% | 695.76 |
ACES | ALPS Clean Energy ETF | 108.95% | 4.34% | 668.29 |
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.