ETF Investors Add $23.5B Despite New Trade War Jitters
- US-listed ETFs pulled in $23.5 billion of new money.
- Flows were strong across most categories.
U.S.-listed ETFs pulled in $23.5 billion of new money during the week ending Friday, May 23, despite renewed trade war headlines and rising bond yields. The weekly haul brings year-to-date ETF inflows to $425 billion.
Stock and bond markets both ran into headwinds last week, as President Donald Trump reignited trade war fears with threats of a 50% tariff on the European Union and a 25% tariff on Apple Inc. (AAPL). At the same time, Treasury yields surged after the House passed a sweeping tax cut bill, stoking concerns about the ballooning national debt.
The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to its highest level since February, and the 30-year hit a peak not seen since 2023.
Still, the market reaction was relatively contained compared to the sharp selloff in April and, by early this week, stocks and bonds had already retraced much of last week’s losses.
Flows Spread Across Asset Classes
Investor demand was broad-based last week. U.S. equity ETFs took in $5.4 billion, while U.S. fixed-income ETFs led the way with $7 billion in inflows. International equities added $5 billion, international fixed income pulled in $3.6 billion and currency ETFs brought in $3 billion.
Bargain Hunting in SPY & Thematic Bets
Among individual funds, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) led with $4.3 billion in inflows, while the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) added $2.2 billion, suggesting investors may be bargain hunting in long-duration Treasurys after their recent slump.
The iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF (EFV) and the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) each pulled in over $2 billion.
But the most eye-popping move came from the iShares U.S. Thematic Rotation Active ETF (THRO), which saw $3.4 billion in inflows, catapulting its assets under management from $640 million to $4 billion in a single week. The active ETF seeks to “dynamically rotate exposure to U.S. market themes ranging from long-term, structural forces to rapidly evolving trends.”
IVV Sees Big Pullback
On the outflows side of the ledger, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) lost $7.2 billion, the largest outflow of the week by far. The iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF (HEFA) also saw a notable $1.2 billion in redemptions.
For a full breakdown of the top ETF inflows and outflows from last week, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change< |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | 4,294.75 | 598,891.40 | 0.72 |
| THRO | iShares U.S. Thematic Rotation Active ETF | 3,369.98 | 3,947.81 | 85.36 |
| EFV | iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF | 2,222.43 | 24,097.59 | 9.22 |
| TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | 2,214.29 | 49,928.85 | 4.43 |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust Series I | 2,139.89 | 327,596.88 | 0.65 |
| IBIT | iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF | 2,130.91 | 72,691.61 | 2.93 |
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 2,079.27 | 648,540.19 | 0.32 |
| IAGG | iShares Core International Aggregate Bond ETF | 1,955.49 | 9,250.44 | 21.14 |
| SGOV | iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF | 1,196.84 | 47,025.58 | 2.55 |
| OEF | iShares S&P 100 ETF | 1,181.22 | 18,764.76 | 6.29 |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | -7,198.23 | 576,289.07 | -1.25 |
| HEFA | iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF | -1,228.87 | 6,634.26 | -18.52 |
| VXF | Vanguard Extended Market ETF | -1,005.45 | 21,023.94 | -4.78 |
| VO | Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF | -992.09 | 78,846.00 | -1.26 |
| IVW | iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF | -964.81 | 55,123.35 | -1.75 |
| XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -795.50 | 49,467.68 | -1.61 |
| EMXC | iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China ETF | -686.35 | 14,674.80 | -4.68 |
| IGV | iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF | -624.09 | 11,218.71 | -5.56 |
| TQQQ | ProShares UltraPro QQQ | -609.29 | 23,501.73 | -2.59 |
| IUSB | iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF | -562.63 | 32,116.85 | -1.75 |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| Alternatives | 814.75 | 10,793.88 | 7.55% |
| Asset Allocation | 79.73 | 24,467.13 | 0.33% |
| Commodities ETFs | 158.79 | 208,592.02 | 0.08% |
| Currency | 2,954.42 | 149,162.05 | 1.98% |
| International Equity | 5,023.65 | 1,772,034.54 | 0.28% |
| International Fixed Income | 3,629.96 | 287,315.53 | 1.26% |
| Inverse | 119.64 | 15,320.11 | 0.78% |
| Leveraged | -1,589.04 | 124,012.37 | -1.28% |
| US Equity | 5,379.38 | 6,705,952.06 | 0.08% |
| US Fixed Income | 6,976.08 | 1,649,721.86 | 0.42% |
| Total: | 23,547.38 | 10,947,371.56 | 0.22% |
Disclaimer: All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the article is published. Data are believed to be accurate; however, transient market data are often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges.
