ETF Inflows Rebound, Now $71B For Year
Stabilization in markets gave investors confidence to tiptoe back into ETFs.
A relatively stable week for the stock market gave investors the confidence to tiptoe back into U.S.-listed ETFs. A total of $13.2 billion entered the space in the week ending Thursday, April 12, according to the latest data from FactSet. Year-to-date inflows now stand at $71.2 billion.
Of this week’s inflows, $6.9 billion went into U.S. equity ETFs, as the S&P 500 crept toward the top end of its trading range around 2,660, up from less than 2,600 at its lows.
At the same time, international equity ETFs and U.S. fixed-income ETFs—areas that have been steadily taking in cash all year long—continued to be popular with investors. The former had inflows of just over $1 billion, while the latter had inflows of more than $4 billion.
The U.S. 10-year bond yield rose to 2.83%, up from 2.78% a week ago.
EM Rotation Trade
The usual suspects made up most of the top inflows list. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) took the No. 1 spot, followed by the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM).
The safe-haven SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) also found itself on the top 10. Gold prices are up 3.2% year-to-date.
Perhaps the most interesting name on the list is the PowerShares S&P Emerging Markets Low Volatility Portfolio (EELV), with creations of $424 million.
A nearly equivalent amount of money—$429 million—flowed out of the PowerShares S&P Emerging Markets Momentum Portfolio (EEMO), suggesting that a large investor made a rotation trade from one emerging markets ETF to the other.
The iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF (EMB) and the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) were two other noteworthy names on the outflows list.
For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | 4,265.80 | 252,737.70 | 1.72% |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | 817.60 | 33,095.55 | 2.53% |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | 677.10 | 42,289.03 | 1.63% |
| SHV | iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF | 628.49 | 12,879.42 | 5.13% |
| HYG | iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | 520.36 | 15,323.03 | 3.52% |
| GLD | SPDR Gold Trust | 507.90 | 37,599.30 | 1.37% |
| VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 438.52 | 93,127.58 | 0.47% |
| DIA | SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust | 424.25 | 21,082.86 | 2.05% |
| EELV | PowerShares S&P Emerging Markets Low Volatility Portfolio | 423.84 | 707.47 | 149.44% |
| IEMG | iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF | 413.59 | 50,494.92 | 0.83% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| EFA | iShares MSCI EAFE ETF | -632.74 | 78,318.29 | -0.80% |
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | -552.93 | 140,269.62 | -0.39% |
| EEMO | PowerShares S&P Emerging Markets Momentum Portfolio | -428.95 | 33.12 | -92.83% |
| EZU | iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF | -333.95 | 13,965.66 | -2.34% |
| XLI | Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -312.60 | 12,769.31 | -2.39% |
| BSV | Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF | -289.84 | 24,082.70 | -1.19% |
| VCIT | Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF | -245.10 | 18,301.03 | -1.32% |
| EMB | iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF | -224.85 | 11,848.35 | -1.86% |
| XLK | Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund | -189.62 | 20,141.28 | -0.93% |
| SJNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Short Term High Yield Bond ETF | -188.59 | 3,789.04 | -4.74% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 6,852.14 | 1,895,079.39 | 0.36% |
| International Equity | 1,005.14 | 846,414.43 | 0.12% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 4,035.44 | 533,128.01 | 0.76% |
| International Fixed Income | 354.60 | 64,055.56 | 0.55% |
| Commodities | 750.10 | 71,508.70 | 1.05% |
| Currency | 49.20 | 1,428.08 | 3.44% |
| Leveraged | -171.32 | 36,007.97 | -0.48% |
| Inverse | 141.65 | 13,330.57 | 1.06% |
| Asset Allocation | 254.74 | 9,135.02 | 2.79% |
| Alternatives | -109.97 | 4,247.02 | -2.59% |
| Total: | 13,161.72 | 3,474,334.74 | 0.38% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
| HYLV | IQ S&P High Yield Low Volatility Bond ETF | 15,396 | 73,233 | 475.65% |
| CLRG | IQ Chaikin U.S. Large Cap ETF | 78,704 | 267,192 | 339.49% |
| ULVM | USAA MSCI USA Value Momentum Blend Index ETF | 34,786 | 125,002 | 359.35% |
| TFLO | iShares Treasury Floating Rate Bond ETF | 32,738 | 123,496 | 377.23% |
| PZT | PowerShares New York AMT-Free Municipal Bond Portfolio | 8,918 | 21,063 | 236.18% |
| CSML | IQ Chaikin U.S. Small Cap ETF | 94,357 | 239,743 | 254.08% |
| FAN | First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF | 43,773 | 96,468 | 220.38% |
| JPMB | JPMorgan USD Emerging Markets Sovereign Bond ETF | 270 | 452 | 167.09% |
| FRN | PowerShares Frontier Markets Portfolio | 80,953 | 160,242 | 197.94% |
| HFXI | IQ 50 Percent Hedged FTSE International ETF | 81,193 | 141,303 | 174.03% |
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.
