ETF Inflows Hit Annual Record: $292B

Annual inflows for 2017 hit a record high for a second-straight week.

Sumit Roy

Senior ETF Analyst

Aug 25, 2017

Reviewed by: Sumit Roy

Edited by: Sumit Roy

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After breaking the annual inflows record from 2016 last week, 2017 ETF inflows continued to climb into uncharted territory this week.

According to the latest data from FactSet, investors added $3.9 billion into U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, Aug. 24, bringing the year-to-date haul to $292.3 billion.

Every ETF segment had positive flows during the week, including U.S. equity ETFs, with creations of $543 million; international equity ETFs, with creations of $936 million; U.S. fixed-income ETFs, with creations of $831 million; and commodity ETFs, with creations of $344 million.

In terms of performance, stocks struggled, and fixed-income securities caught a bid, as investors nervously considered President Trump's threat to shut down the government if Congress refuses to include money for a border wall in its spending bill. The deadline to lift the country's debt ceiling is also fast approaching, and may be hit by Sept. 29 if Congress doesn't act.

Utility ETF Hits New Highs
Volatility products continued to be active on the top creations list. The iPath S&P 599 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) and the VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN (XIV) had inflows of $291 million and $214 million, respectively.

Another standout on the list was the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU), which had inflows of $215 million. The utilities sector ETF surged to a record high this week, bringing its year-to-date gains to 13.2%, the third-best-performing sector return of 2017 behind tech and health care.

Meanwhile, on the outflows side, four sector ETFs made an appearance. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY), the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV), the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) had outflows ranging from $300 million to $900 million.

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
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	2,775.39	241,796.18	1.16%
IWM	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	1,271.31	36,285.85	3.63%
VEA	Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF	860.28	59,976.25	1.46%
AGG	iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	483.81	49,993.29	0.98%
VXX	iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN	291.49	335.30	665.36%
TLT	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	265.98	7,326.97	3.77%
SCHD	Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF	263.88	5,979.59	4.62%
JNK	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF	258.34	11,940.33	2.21%
XLU	Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund	215.14	7,875.10	2.81%
XIV	VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN	214.37	1,153.12	22.84%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
QQQ	PowerShares QQQ Trust	-1,033.62	50,925.70	-1.99%
HYG	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	-910.61	17,804.55	-4.87%
XLY	Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund	-893.68	11,506.71	-7.21%
XLV	Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund	-580.04	17,112.87	-3.28%
MDY	SPDR S&P Midcap 400 ETF Trust	-510.06	17,381.45	-2.85%
SMH	VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF	-419.48	629.07	-40.01%
XLP	Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund	-313.33	8,116.06	-3.72%
XLI	Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund	-295.77	11,590.55	-2.49%
IVV	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	-232.81	121,008.63	-0.19%
IWD	iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	-230.39	35,478.04	-0.65%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	543.40	1,675,810.91	0.03%
International Equity	935.50	705,709.77	0.13%
U.S. Fixed Income	831.44	496,044.83	0.17%
International Fixed Income	129.11	53,399.87	0.24%
Commodities	343.50	62,912.48	0.55%
Currency	15.73	1,420.78	1.11%
Leveraged	384.18	28,690.20	1.34%
Inverse	354.93	17,883.54	1.98%
Asset Allocation	31.79	7,339.13	0.43%
Alternatives	312.84	3,300.43	9.48%
Total:	3,882.44	3,052,511.94	0.13%

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

Ticker	Name	Average Volume (30 Day)	1 Week Average Volume	% of Average
IBCD	iShares iBonds Mar 2020 Term Corporate ex-Financials ETF	17,318	90,752	524.03%
INXX	Columbia India Infrastructure ETF	33,667	126,051	374.41%
DFJ	WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund	80,433	235,185	292.40%
IAGG	iShares Core International Aggregate Bond ETF	64,369	190,994	296.72%
GIGB	Goldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	114,197	261,808	229.26%
LRGF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor USA ETF	193,625	873,602	451.18%
FIEU	Credit Suisse FI Enhanced Europe 50 ETN	1,084	2,637	243.24%
CATH	Global X S&P 500 Catholic Values	16,426	32,129	195.60%
DGRW	WisdomTree US Quality Dividend Growth Fund	230,948	567,202	245.60%
FVL	First Trust Value Line 100 ETF	5,860	12,250	209.05%

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 Inflows Hit Annual Record: $292B

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