ETF Inflows Pause As Stocks Hit Records
The S&P 500 notched a fresh record-high close, but investors only added $375 million to U.S.-listed ETFs during the week.
U.S. stocks hit record highs this week, but ETF investors took a breather from adding more money into the market. On net, a modest $375 million in new money entered U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, April 25.
During the period, which only encompassed four trading sessions because of the Good Friday holiday, investors pulled $2.3 billion out of U.S. equity ETFs, even as the S&P 500 notched its highest-ever closing level on Tuesday.
Offsetting those outflows were inflows of $1.7 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively, for international equity ETFs and U.S. fixed income ETFs.
Year-to-date inflows for all ETFs now stand at $76.1 billion, compared with $81.5 billion at the same time last year.
Impressive ‘TLT’ Haul
Taking the No. 1 position on the weekly inflows list was the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), with an impressive $2.1 billon haul. The 30-year Treasury bond yield slipped to the lowest level in more than two weeks, as traders anticipated the next move by the Federal Reserve would be an interest rate cut to head off overseas economic weakness.
Still, the current yield of 2.92% is above the 2.79% low set in March.
Along with TLT, the iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY) and the iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) saw inflows during the week.
On the other hand, the Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF (BSV) continued to shed assets. Its weekly outflows of $1.3 billion brought its year-to-date loss to $5.8 billion.
‘QQQ’ Tops Outflows List
Meanwhile, on the equity side, the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) and the iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) were among the biggest flows winners—while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF (IWS) and the SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF (RWR) were among the biggest losers.
For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | 2,135.79 | 12,736.04 | 16.77% |
QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | 542.51 | 76,177.34 | 0.71% |
IEFA | iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 522.29 | 63,595.56 | 0.82% |
XLK | Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund | 436.68 | 21,024.98 | 2.08% |
XLU | Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund | 435.55 | 9,182.44 | 4.74% |
VGT | Vanguard Information Technology ETF | 426.16 | 21,201.21 | 2.01% |
SHY | iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 419.38 | 19,585.37 | 2.14% |
MCHI | iShares MSCI China ETF | 258.03 | 4,911.87 | 5.25% |
IEF | iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 231.88 | 13,446.06 | 1.72% |
QUAL | iShares Edge MSCI U.S.A. Quality Factor ETF | 228.03 | 11,382.76 | 2.00% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -3,712.31 | 277,838.17 | -1.34% |
BSV | Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF | -1,284.01 | 22,439.44 | -5.72% |
TIP | iShares TIPS Bond ETF | -755.16 | 20,825.32 | -3.63% |
IWS | iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF | -512.89 | 11,019.00 | -4.65% |
RWR | SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF | -475.50 | 2,408.71 | -19.74% |
IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | -439.99 | 43,497.12 | -1.01% |
EMB | iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF | -415.67 | 15,457.14 | -2.69% |
IEI | iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF | -403.38 | 6,808.04 | -5.93% |
IWN | iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF | -348.74 | 9,140.21 | -3.82% |
HYG | iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -294.35 | 17,012.38 | -1.73% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | -2,289.77 | 2,231,249.25 | -0.10% |
International Equity | 1,672.98 | 839,969.82 | 0.20% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 1,351.31 | 642,758.94 | 0.21% |
International Fixed Income | -221.46 | 73,835.21 | -0.30% |
Commodities | -189.42 | 62,075.46 | -0.31% |
Currency | 0.00 | 1,479.72 | 0.00% |
Leveraged | 234.13 | 39,331.67 | 0.60% |
Inverse | -177.42 | 11,534.81 | -1.54% |
Asset Allocation | 18.84 | 9,543.09 | 0.20% |
Alternatives | -24.57 | 4,746.71 | -0.52% |
Total: | 374.61 | 3,916,524.68 | 0.01% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | 23,326.31 | 2,231,249.25 | 1.05% |
International Equity | 11,710.72 | 839,969.82 | 1.39% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 35,760.43 | 642,758.94 | 5.56% |
International Fixed Income | 6,190.56 | 73,835.21 | 8.38% |
Commodities | -1,834.30 | 62,075.46 | -2.95% |
Currency | -305.30 | 1,479.72 | -20.63% |
Leveraged | -1,753.47 | 39,331.67 | -4.46% |
Inverse | 2,744.00 | 11,534.81 | 23.79% |
Asset Allocation | -582.77 | 9,543.09 | -6.11% |
Alternatives | 820.30 | 4,746.71 | 17.28% |
Total: | 76,076.47 | 3,916,524.68 | 1.94% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
GMOM | Cambria Global Momentum ETF | 35,112 | 210,907 | 600.67% |
FXU | First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund | 253,133 | 1,522,125 | 601.31% |
258,991 | 1,291,555 | 498.69% | ||
BSCQ | Invesco BulletShares 2026 Corporate Bond ETF | 43,078 | 155,023 | 359.87% |
FIEE | UBS AG FI Enhanced Europe 50 ETN | 1,811 | 5,957 | 328.97% |
JPMF | JPMorgan Managed Futures Strategy ETF | 1,579 | 5,147 | 325.99% |
QQXT | First Trust NASDAQ-100 Ex-Technology Sector Index Fund | 3,417 | 8,837 | 258.64% |
MOO | VanEck Vectors Agribusiness ETF | 27,488 | 66,936 | 243.51% |
IGOV | iShares International Treasury Bond ETF | 125,179 | 301,084 | 240.52% |
ARGT | Global X MSCI Argentina ETF | 56,080 | 130,381 | 232.49% |
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.