ETF Flows Undeterred By Market Mania

Senior ETF Analyst

Jan 29, 2021

Reviewed by: Sumit Roy

Edited by: Sumit Roy

A few wobbles in the stock market didn't stop investors from adding to their ETF holdings this week. On net, almost $10 billion flowed into U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, Jan. 28, according to FactSet. That brings year-to-date inflows up to $65.5 billion, ahead of the $48.3 billion seen at this same time a year ago.

Investors were largely undeterred by the wild moves in GameStop, AMC and other meme stocks during the period. Fueled by immense buying by individual investors and hedge funds frantically covering their positions, those stocks dominated the financial news cycle for much of the week.

However, you wouldn't be able to tell that from this week's relatively ho-hum flows data, which suggests that things were business as usual for most investors.

About $950 million came out of U.S. equity ETFs, a modest sum. At the same time, $7.6 billion headed into international equity ETFs, including $981 million into the JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF (BBJP) and $884 million into the JPMorgan BetaBuilders Developed Asia ex-Japan ETF (BBAX).

International equity ETFs have been the most popular segment of the year so far, with a haul of $34.7 billion, triple the take of U.S. equity ETFs. Some investors consider international equities a bargain compared to U.S. equities. Up until this month, the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) hadn't hit a new high since 2018, and the iShares Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) hadn't hit a new high since 2007.

That all changed in January 2021. Perhaps this marks the start of a new bull trend in international stocks. At least some investors seem to think so.

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
SDY	SPDR S&P Dividend ETF	1,306.88	18,391.59	7.11%
BBJP	JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF	980.51	7,389.18	13.27%
BBAX	JPMorgan BetaBuilders Developed Asia ex-Japan ETF	883.92	2,705.77	32.67%
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	845.97	206,008.37	0.41%
BND	Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF	690.83	70,276.21	0.98%
FXR	First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX Fund	659.09	1,139.64	57.83%
JPHY	JPMorgan High Yield Research Enhanced ETF	528.87	1,023.07	51.69%
AGG	iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	493.06	86,252.18	0.57%
SPHD	Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF	464.21	3,104.06	14.95%
IUSB	iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF	455.03	9,575.07	4.75%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	-4,143.80	321,893.30	-1.29%
HYG	iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	-2,198.36	21,164.00	-10.39%
QUAL	iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF	-1,230.65	19,797.52	-6.22%
IWM	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	-864.17	62,951.64	-1.37%
LQD	iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	-696.08	52,118.47	-1.34%
FDN	First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund	-668.08	10,536.58	-6.34%
XRT	SPDR S&P Retail ETF	-630.95	237.36	-265.82%
USMV	iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF	-574.89	30,108.74	-1.91%
XLF	Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund	-574.41	28,484.20	-2.02%
GLD	SPDR Gold Trust	-555.29	68,998.24	-0.80%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	-946.59	3,142,873.46	-0.03%
International Equity	7,613.14	1,120,609.59	0.68%
U.S. Fixed Income	3,027.07	980,506.70	0.31%
International Fixed Income	1,090.50	126,983.85	0.86%
Commodities	-811.46	141,626.14	-0.57%
Currency	0.61	1,998.74	0.03%
Leveraged	-383.50	46,192.46	-0.83%
Inverse	186.36	11,880.56	1.57%
Asset Allocation	88.75	13,704.60	0.65%
Alternatives	90.93	6,322.74	1.44%
Total:	9,955.81	5,592,698.84	0.18%

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	11,714.37	3,142,873.46	0.37%
International Equity	34,683.10	1,120,609.59	3.10%
U.S. Fixed Income	13,784.52	980,506.70	1.41%
International Fixed Income	3,842.13	126,983.85	3.03%
Commodities	259.65	141,626.14	0.18%
Currency	78.15	1,998.74	3.91%
Leveraged	-1,293.30	46,192.46	-2.80%
Inverse	1,485.30	11,880.56	12.50%
Asset Allocation	369.37	13,704.60	2.70%
Alternatives	621.14	6,322.74	9.82%
Total:	65,544.44	5,592,698.84	1.17%

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

Ticker	Name	Weekly Performance	Weekly Volume	AUM ($, mm)
GAMR	Wedbush ETFMG Video Game Tech ETF	25.84%	645,881	223.26
VIXY	ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF	23.55%	43,463,385	469.78
VXX	iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN	23.48%	276,829,589	1,560.98
XRT	SPDR S&P Retail ETF	21.85%	55,426,346	237.36
PSCD	Invesco S&P SmallCap Consumer Discretionary ETF	14.36%	67,723	42.30
RWJ	Invesco S&P SmallCap 600 Revenue ETF	13.50%	249,039	408.54
XSVM	Invesco S&P SmallCap Value with Momentum ETF	11.63%	206,450	147.97
VXZ	iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN	9.57%	132,985	44.82
VIXM	ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF	9.20%	441,696	90.64
GAZ	iPath Series B Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN	9.17%	12,856	4.07

Top 10 YTD Performers

Ticker	Name	YTD Performance	Weekly Performance	AUM ($, mm)
VFIN	Simplify Volt Fintech Disruption ETF	6,900.00%	-2.80%	3.59
POTX	Global X Cannabis ETF	49.19%	-0.20%	82.35
XRT	SPDR S&P Retail ETF	41.84%	21.85%	237.36
GAMR	Wedbush ETFMG Video Game Tech ETF	39.36%	25.84%	223.26
THCX	The Cannabis ETF	35.44%	-2.25%	92.54
MJ	ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF	35.26%	-0.05%	1,467.07
CNBS	Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF	34.15%	-1.27%	54.92
PSCD	Invesco S&P SmallCap Consumer Discretionary ETF	33.11%	14.36%	42.30
RWJ	Invesco S&P SmallCap 600 Revenue ETF	31.86%	13.50%	408.54
MOON	Direxion Moonshot Innovators ETF	30.64%	6.36%	66.28

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 Undeterred By Market Mania

ETF Flows Undeterred By Market Mania

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