ETF Flows Hit $320B As 'TLT' Tops List

Inflows into the Treasury bond ETF helped propel 2017 ETF inflows to a new record high.

Sumit Roy

Senior ETF Analyst

Sep 15, 2017

Reviewed by: Sumit Roy

Edited by: Sumit Roy

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[Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article contained an error in a performance table. It will be republished when it has been corrected.]

Record highs in the stock market went hand in hand with record highs for ETF inflows this week. The S&P 500 reached just shy of 2,500 for the first time, while investors added $11.6 billion to U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds during the week ending Thursday, Sept. 14.

Year-to-date inflows now stand at $319.9 billion, according to FactSet data, which is a fresh annual record.

Once again, inflows were distributed across the spectrum. U.S. equity ETFs picked up $5.6 billion during the latest week; international equity ETFs picked up $2.5 billion; and U.S. fixed-income ETFs picked up $3.3 billion.

'TLT' On Top
Finding itself atop the weekly inflows list for a second-straight week was the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT). Investors added $1.3 billion to the fund as Treasury bonds whipsawed during the period; the U.S. 10-year yield fell as low as 2.03% before spiking to 2.2% by week's end (bond prices and yields move inversely).

The iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEI), with its $510 million worth of inflows, and the Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF (VCIT), with inflows of $380 million, were the only other fixed-income products in the top 10.

Meanwhile, after a short hiatus, two emerging market ETFs made an appearance on the list this week. The Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) and the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) had inflows of more than $440 million apiece during the week.

On the flip side, notable names on the outflist list included the ProShares UltraPro S&P 500 (UPRO), the ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (SVXY), the iShares MSCI Germany ETF (EWG), the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ) and the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF (HEWG).

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
TLT	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	1,259.33	9,407.17	15.46%
VO	Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF	852.53	20,603.22	4.32%
IEFA	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	634.08	35,081.32	1.84%
IEI	iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	510.18	8,220.70	6.62%
VWO	Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF	454.72	63,678.12	0.72%
VB	Vanguard Small-Cap ETF	449.12	19,798.12	2.32%
IEMG	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	424.03	37,740.80	1.14%
XLF	Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund	395.69	25,169.37	1.60%
VCIT	Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF	379.59	17,075.34	2.27%
VBK	Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF	377.14	6,678.80	5.98%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
LQD	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	-689.09	37,338.95	-1.81%
IJH	iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF	-384.78	39,106.46	-0.97%
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	-312.77	245,992.67	-0.13%
UPRO	ProShares UltraPro S&P500	-229.83	907.92	-20.20%
IWF	iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF	-200.99	36,746.62	-0.54%
SVXY	ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF	-189.74	1,369.49	-12.17%
EWG	iShares MSCI Germany ETF	-172.17	4,739.17	-3.51%
HYG	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	-158.32	18,453.71	-0.85%
DXJ	WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund	-156.00	7,956.85	-1.92%
HEWG	iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF	-153.67	661.41	-18.85%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	5,575.18	1,730,827.86	0.32%
International Equity	2,454.27	730,575.84	0.34%
U.S. Fixed Income	3,319.00	503,353.96	0.66%
International Fixed Income	99.02	54,695.36	0.18%
Commodities ETFs	208.70	66,809.95	0.31%
Currency	-12.12	1,448.70	-0.84%
Leveraged	-261.66	29,394.46	-0.89%
Inverse	-44.03	18,416.46	-0.24%
Asset Allocation	16.46	7,491.67	0.22%
Alternatives	211.00	4,129.94	5.11%
Total:	11,565.80	3,147,144.20	0.37%

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

Ticker	Name	Average Volume (30 Day)	1 Week Average Volume	% of Average
HAWX	iShares Currency Hedged MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	15,078	52,101	345.55%
STIP	iShares 0-5 Year TIPS Bond ETF	54,988	139,848	254.32%
IYH	iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF	54,231	147,155	271.35%
FDT	First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund	74,066	176,498	238.30%
GNR	SPDR S&P Global Natural Resources ETF	96,135	211,452	219.95%
IYG	iShares US Financial Services ETF	76,380	162,390	212.61%
INP	iPath MSCI India Index ETN	5,982	12,844	214.70%
CHAD	Direxion Daily CSI 300 China A Share Bear 1X Shares	9,356	17,997	192.37%
FNK	First Trust Mid Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund	15,709	52,798	336.11%
JHMT	John Hancock Multifactor Technology ETF	5,029	7,963	158.35%

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.

Sumit Roy

| Contact: [email protected]

Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com, where he has worked for 13 years. He creates a variety of content for the platform, including news articles, analysis pieces, videos and podcasts.

Before joining etf.com, Sumit was the managing editor and commodities analyst for Hard Assets Investor. In those roles, he was responsible for most of the operations of HAI, a website dedicated to education about commodities investing.

Though he still closely follows the commodities beat, Sumit covers a much broader assortment of topics for etf.com, with a particular focus on stock and bond exchange-traded funds.

He is the host of etf.com’s Talk ETFs, a popular video series that features weekly interviews with thought leaders in the ETF industry. Sumit is also co-host of Exchange Traded Fridays, etf.com’s weekly podcast series.

He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys climbing the city’s steep hills, playing chess and snowboarding in Lake Tahoe.

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ETF Flows Hit $320B As 'TLT' Tops List

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