Equity ETFs See Massive Outflows

An astronomical $22 billion flowed out of equity ETFs last week, as familiar post-crash jitters took hold.

Investors pulled more than $22 billion from equities-focused ETFs last week, $19 billion of it from U.S. equities strategies, as markets went into a familiar post-2008-crash “risk-off” mode in the wake of choppy economic data that have renewed concerns about the global recovery.

The flip side of that exodus from equities was powerful inflows into sundry fixed-income ETFs—the latest sign in the post-crash era that investors are willing to make peace with paltry yields at the first signs of trouble. Bond ETFs pulled $11.26 billion.

Overall, investors yanked $9.79 billion from ETFs in the week ended Thursday, Feb. 6, pulling down total U.S.-listed ETF assets by 4 percent to $1.625 trillion, according to data compiled by ETF.com.

The dramatic pivot in ETF flows is a case of back to the future for post-financial crisis investors, who rode the S&P 500 Index up about 30 percent on last year's prevailing risk-on sentiment. But markets have fallen to 4.1 percent so far in 2014 as economic data has turned dodgy.

From weak December and January labor-market gains to strong fourth-quarter gross domestic product output in the fourth quarter of 2013, investors are rushing back to the safety of bond funds, in a repetition of a risk-on/risk-off pattern that has prevailed in financial markets pretty much since Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy in September 2008.

To be clear, the concern is global in scope, spanning worries about flagging growth in other developed markets such as Japan and Europe, and reflecting concerns that an asset-price bubble in the emerging markets over the past five years may be deflating.

So, investors are fleeing equities and buying bond funds spanning the yield curve and credit quality.

The iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond (SHY | A-97) led all bond funds, raking in $3.7 billion last week, bringing its total assets up to $11.86 billion. On the contrary, the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY | A-97) was the least popular ETF last week, redeeming $8.63 billion, bringing its assets down to $144 billion.

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Top 8 Redemptions (All ETFs)

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded

Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded

Top 10 YTD Performers

Bottom 10 YTD Performers

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.