ETF Inflows Hit $353B As 'SPY' & 'IVV' Diverge
Annual inflows into U.S.-listed ETFs hit fresh record highs as global stock markets climbed to lofty levels.
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Stock markets and ETF inflows continued to ascend to record highs this week as investor confidence remained strong. A total of $8.3 billion flowed into U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds, pushing year-to-date inflows to $353.1 billion.
There's seemingly no end in sight to the deluge of money that's been headed into ETFs, with asset classes across the board benefiting.
The only thing that changes from week to week is which segment of the ETF universe benefits the most. This time it was international equity ETFs that garnered the strongest inflows, at $4.1 billion. That was followed by U.S. equity ETFs, with inflows of $1.8 billion, and U.S. fixed-income ETFs, with inflows of $1.7 billion.
All-Time Global Highs
During the week, the S&P 500 crept up to yet another all-time high. The index was last trading around 2,557, for a year-to-date gain of nearly 16%.
Other milestones reached during the week included an all-time high for the MSCI World Index; a 21-year high for Japanese stocks; and a six-year high for emerging markets.
Meanwhile, in fixed-income markets, the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond yield sagged to its lowest point since late September, at 2.28%, even as Federal Reserve officials signaled that a December rate hike is likely.
The Fed news was offset by reports about the European Central Bank, which, according to sources, may extend its quantitative easing program by nine months, until September of next year. Monthly bond purchases are expected to be cut in half, to 30 billion euros, starting in January, if sources are correct.
'IVV' & 'SPY' Diverge
In terms of weekly flows winners and losers, the top spot went to the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), with an inflow of $1.3 billion. IVV also holds the mantle as the biggest flows winner year-to-date, with inflows totaling a whopping $25.2 billion.
The iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) and the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) were other popular products during the week, with creations of $962 million and $863 million, respectively.
On the outflows side, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was the biggest loser, with a redemption of $866 million. Year-to-date outflows for the fund total $10.8 billion and stand in sharp contrast to IVV.
Other losers during the week included the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU), the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP), the iShares MSCI Spain Capped ETF (EWP) and the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT).
For a full list of this week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 1,255.48 | 129,846.69 | 0.98% |
| IEMG | iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF | 961.71 | 38,590.78 | 2.56% |
| IEFA | iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 863.24 | 38,148.45 | 2.32% |
| XLI | Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund | 629.20 | 12,682.09 | 5.22% |
| VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 474.78 | 85,955.07 | 0.56% |
| VV | Vanguard Large-Cap ETF | 462.78 | 10,378.49 | 4.67% |
| HYG | iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | 370.36 | 20,247.91 | 1.86% |
| QQQ | PowerShares QQQ Trust | 345.70 | 53,155.80 | 0.65% |
| ITOT | iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF | 338.60 | 11,687.82 | 2.98% |
| VWO | Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF | 317.46 | 64,417.71 | 0.50% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -866.49 | 244,528.24 | -0.35% |
| XLU | Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund | -528.94 | 7,509.91 | -6.58% |
| XLP | Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund | -402.23 | 7,822.56 | -4.89% |
| EWP | iShares MSCI Spain Capped ETF | -364.34 | 1,080.47 | -25.22% |
| TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | -323.08 | 8,670.63 | -3.59% |
| IWB | iShares Russell 1000 ETF | -312.61 | 19,460.18 | -1.58% |
| FEX | First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund | -295.31 | 1,490.88 | -16.53% |
| MDY | SPDR S&P Midcap 400 ETF Trust | -239.67 | 19,184.77 | -1.23% |
| XLV | Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund | -232.35 | 17,709.35 | -1.30% |
| FTA | First Trust Large Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund | -209.92 | 1,044.15 | -16.74% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 1,799.22 | 1,775,130.58 | 0.10% |
| International Equity | 4,093.75 | 749,732.15 | 0.55% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 1,657.75 | 510,514.98 | 0.32% |
| International Fixed Income | 192.51 | 55,231.67 | 0.35% |
| Commodities ETFs | 97.54 | 66,479.08 | 0.15% |
| Currency | 27.96 | 1,332.12 | 2.10% |
| Leveraged | 426.65 | 30,563.22 | 1.40% |
| Inverse | -100.75 | 17,153.29 | -0.59% |
| Asset Allocation | 73.15 | 8,524.52 | 0.86% |
| Alternatives | 15.74 | 4,074.34 | 0.39% |
| Total: | 8,283.52 | 3,218,735.96 | 0.26% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
| VV | Vanguard Large-Cap ETF | 270,481 | 1,091,034 | 403.37% |
| MLPZ | ETRACS 2xMonthly Leveraged S&P MLP Index ETN Series B | 282 | 963 | 341.35% |
| NORW | Global X MSCI Norway ETF | 185,944 | 682,271 | 366.92% |
| HYLB | Deutsche X-trackers USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | 30,277 | 155,396 | 513.24% |
| IWL | iShares Russell Top 200 ETF | 5,041 | 19,936 | 395.45% |
| DEUS | Deutsche X-trackers Russell 1000 Comprehensive Factor ETF | 44,056 | 140,039 | 317.86% |
| ELD | WisdomTree Emerging Markets Local Debt Fund | 39,570 | 141,944 | 358.71% |
| SIZE | iShares Edge MSCI USA Size Factor ETF | 22,130 | 49,522 | 223.78% |
| CCOR | Cambria Core Equity ETF | 17,517 | 36,246 | 206.92% |
| IWV | iShares Russell 3000 ETF | 148,225 | 287,894 | 194.23% |
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.
