$38B Flows Into ETFs as Investors Look Past Powell’s Comments
Rate-cut uncertainty didn’t slow ETF buyers. Investors added $37.6 billion last week, led by tech and muni funds.
Investors poured $37.6 billion into U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Friday, Oct. 31, extending a strong run of inflows despite a slightly more hawkish tone from the Federal Reserve.
U.S. equity ETFs led the way with $19.3 billion, followed by $8.7 billion for U.S. fixed income funds, $8.6 billion for international equity ETFs, and $2.2 billion for international fixed income products.
The macro backdrop remained broadly supportive with stocks hovering near record highs thanks to strong gains in tech stocks like Nvidia and Amazon.
The Fed cut rates as expected, but Chair Jerome Powell surprised markets by suggesting a December rate cut wasn’t guaranteed, diverging from market expectations. Futures markets still price in a 67% chance of another cut next month, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, though that’s down from pre-meeting levels.
Despite the uncertainty, ETF flows showed no signs of slowing.
Tech ETFs In Vogue
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) topped the leaderboard with $4.4 billion of inflows. The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) followed with $2.1 billion, while the tech-heavy Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM) picked up more than $1 billion.
On the fixed income side, the JPMorgan Municipal ETF (JMUB) led the pack with $1.9 billion of inflows. Bond yields jumped last week on the back of Powell's comments.
Internationally, the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA) and the JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF (BBEU) stood out with inflows of $805 million and $757 million, respectively.
Small Caps Shunned
On the outflows side, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) saw $1.8 billion in redemptions as small caps continued to underperform their large-cap counterparts. The Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares (SOXL) followed with $1.3 billion of outflows, as traders took profits following a sharp rally in semiconductor stocks.
Two of the year’s biggest flow magnets saw rare reversals last week. The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and the iShares 0–3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) each had about $1 billion in redemptions. Gold slipped as investors took profits following a surge in the price of the metal, while SGOV’s outflows might reflect a slight dip in demand for ultra-short Treasuries following the Fed’s rate cut.
For a full list of last week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change< |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | 4,405.42 | 691,190.94 | 0.64 |
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 4,299.03 | 797,723.87 | 0.54 |
| VGT | Vanguard Information Technology ETF | 2,120.17 | 118,704.53 | 1.79 |
| JMUB | JPMorgan Municipal ETF | 1,945.87 | 6,073.36 | 32.04 |
| VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 1,178.84 | 561,676.35 | 0.21 |
| SCHG | Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF | 1,170.05 | 53,942.39 | 2.17 |
| QQQM | Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF | 1,035.62 | 68,213.34 | 1.52 |
| VEA | Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF | 805.09 | 183,489.98 | 0.44 |
| BBEU | JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF | 756.91 | 8,162.99 | 9.27 |
| VUG | Vanguard Growth ETF | 676.70 | 203,485.41 | 0.33 |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | -1,807.06 | 67,750.62 | -2.67 |
| SOXL | Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares | -1,324.78 | 13,684.57 | -9.68 |
| GLD | SPDR Gold Shares | -1,014.82 | 133,405.77 | -0.76 |
| SGOV | iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF | -941.23 | 59,132.54 | -1.59 |
| DIA | SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust | -590.27 | 42,075.38 | -1.40 |
| KRE | SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF | -586.04 | 3,177.45 | -18.44 |
| SHY | iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | -472.97 | 23,817.49 | -1.99 |
| MBB | iShares MBS ETF | -449.85 | 41,821.75 | -1.08 |
| TSLL | Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 2X Shares | -436.02 | 7,331.06 | -5.95 |
| BIL | SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF | -432.90 | 42,172.14 | -1.03 |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| Alternatives | -66.32 | 12,547.13 | -0.53% |
| Asset Allocation | 253.41 | 30,725.27 | 0.82% |
| Commodities E T Fs | -1,548.00 | 290,524.17 | -0.53% |
| Currency | -232.89 | 177,491.10 | -0.13% |
| International Equity | 8,554.25 | 2,170,108.55 | 0.39% |
| International Fixed Income | 2,241.48 | 348,077.10 | 0.64% |
| Inverse | 271.46 | 14,291.66 | 1.90% |
| Leveraged | 136.58 | 162,821.44 | 0.08% |
| Us Equity | 19,256.51 | 8,097,911.91 | 0.24% |
| Us Fixed Income | 8,721.97 | 1,860,261.97 | 0.47% |
| Total: | 37,588.46 | 13,164,760.30 | 0.29% |
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.
