ARK's Assets Surge, Bond ETFs Bleed

Demand for ETFs steadied at a healthy level this week as stocks continued their march into record territory. On net, $11.5 billion flowed into U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, Feb. 18, pushing year-to-date inflows up to $129.3 billion, ahead of the $98.3 billion seen at this same time a year ago.

The weekly inflows went primarily into U.S. and international equity ETFs, which picked up $4.7 billion and $6.1 billion in new money, respectively.

Fixed income products didn’t fare nearly as well—inflows were negligible—with investors turned off by a swift sell-off in Treasuries and investment-grade corporate bonds. The 10-year Treasury bond yield touched a one-year high above 1.36% during the week (bond prices and yields move inversely) amid rising economic growth and inflation expectations.

ARK Assets Keep Piling Up

In terms of individual ETFs, the low-cost index fund mainstays and a handful of hot ARK ETFs continued to dominate the flows charts.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) took the top three positions on the weekly inflows list.

At the same time, the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF), the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) and the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) each picked up between $522 million and $746 million in new cash.

ARK is currently the seventh-largest ETF issuer, with just under $60 billion in total assets under management.

Its high-flying suite of ETFs sold off modestly this week, but each of the company’s funds is up substantially on a year-to-date basis.

Fixed Income Outflows

While equity ETFs generally remained well-supported this week, fixed income ETFs faced pressure, prompting some investors to lighten up their exposure to the asset class.

Several bond, gold and utility ETFs (considered a bond proxy by some) registered steep outflows during the week.

The iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD), the iShares 20+Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU) took the top three positions on the weekly outflows list, with redemptions ranging from $782 million to $1.91 billion.

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

 

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	1,358.32	199,295.62	0.68%
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	1,071.67	340,294.66	0.31%
VWO	Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF	919.85	81,990.80	1.12%
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	839.15	219,219.03	0.38%
IEF	iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	834.11	14,265.55	5.85%
ARKF	ARK Fintech Innovation ETF	745.67	4,913.25	15.18%
ARKK	ARK Innovation ETF	556.09	27,634.25	2.01%
ARKW	ARK Next Generation Internet ETF	522.06	9,391.44	5.56%
BNDX	Vanguard Total International Bond ETF	511.08	39,124.74	1.31%
VEA	Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF	497.54	93,534.76	0.53%

 

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
LQD	iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	-1,910.55	47,552.87	-4.02%
TLT	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	-1,151.00	14,425.09	-7.98%
XLU	Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund	-782.57	11,517.34	-6.79%
HYG	iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	-735.57	21,831.20	-3.37%
EMB	iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF	-691.13	18,328.40	-3.77%
IWM	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	-664.56	67,372.13	-0.99%
GLD	SPDR Gold Trust	-542.15	64,846.86	-0.84%
PFF	iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF	-499.11	18,198.27	-2.74%
VYM	Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF	-435.09	32,769.11	-1.33%
QQQ	Invesco QQQ Trust	-267.30	159,866.00	-0.17%

 

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	4,694.35	3,343,132.57	0.14%
International Equity	6,130.00	1,196,852.21	0.51%
U.S. Fixed Income	117.51	981,190.47	0.01%
International Fixed Income	252.40	129,480.45	0.19%
Commodities	-415.49	141,270.71	-0.29%
Currency	-33.66	1,987.10	-1.69%
Leveraged	141.85	53,107.93	0.27%
Inverse	156.98	11,684.18	1.34%
Asset Allocation	55.59	14,257.44	0.39%
Alternatives	393.63	6,417.98	6.13%
Total:	11,493.15	5,879,381.06	0.20%

 

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	41,432.62	3,343,132.57	1.24%
International Equity	56,389.56	1,196,852.21	4.71%
U.S. Fixed Income	20,234.56	981,190.47	2.06%
International Fixed Income	7,197.41	129,480.45	5.56%
Commodities	826.76	141,270.71	0.59%
Currency	80.91	1,987.10	4.07%
Leveraged	-794.09	53,107.93	-1.50%
Inverse	2,280.77	11,684.18	19.52%
Asset Allocation	574.40	14,257.44	4.03%
Alternatives	1,119.04	6,417.98	17.44%
Total:	129,341.93	5,879,381.06	2.20%

 

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.