ETF Investors Ride Market Volatility
Investors didn't completely jump ship as the market plunged, but they trimmed risk exposure noticeably.
In one of the most turbulent weeks global markets have seen in recent years, it's no surprise investors yanked assets from equity ETFs, particularly international equity funds, which bled more than $6.2 billion in five days.
Emerging market ETFs were directly in the line of fire as concerns about slowing global growth and an uncertain outlook for China mounted. The two largest ETFs in the segment, the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO | B-88) and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM | B-100), saw redemptions of more than $1 billion each.
The outflows came as the Chinese stock market plunged some 15 percent in the five days ended Thursday, Aug. 27. Other markets were also hit. Japan slipped some 7 percent in a week; European stocks dropped about 2 percent, while the S&P 500 plunged nearly 10 percent at one point before bouncing back to end the five-day stretch with a 2.3 percent loss.
A roster of U.S. sector ETFs and large-cap funds was also among the week's largest redemptions.
But considering the amount of volatility investors faced as global markets corrected this week, combined equity ETF outflows of about $9 billion aren't all that bad, especially considering equity mutual funds saw their biggest weekly redemptions in nearly eight months, according to CNBC.
If ETF investors rode the volatility relatively well, they tightened their grip on the safety of U.S. fixed income—a segment that received $3.5 billion in fresh inflows. The most popular bond fund in the past five days was the iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV | A-96), which gathered more than $1 billion in fresh net assets. That's a 45 percent increase in its asset base.
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
IWM | iShares Russell 2000 | 1,118.79 | 25,537.34 | 4.58% |
SHV | iShares Short Treasury Bond | 1,036.54 | 3,308.10 | 45.63% |
SPY | SPDR S&P 500 | 976.70 | 168,328.97 | 0.58% |
XIV | VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short Term ETN | 862.46 | 1,154.14 | 295.68% |
XLE | Energy Select SPDR | 760.22 | 11,835.59 | 6.86% |
VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 | 552.82 | 34,020.21 | 1.65% |
SVXY | ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures | 459.10 | 569.76 | 414.87% |
BIL | SPDR Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill | 452.42 | 1,896.50 | 31.33% |
SHY | iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond | 398.80 | 11,675.36 | 3.54% |
IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 | 350.97 | 67,160.67 | 0.53% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
VWO | Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets | -1,067.74 | 39,074.99 | -2.66% |
EEM | iShares MSCI Emerging Markets | -1,036.77 | 20,824.79 | -4.74% |
XLF | Financial Select SPDR | -942.69 | 18,008.01 | -4.97% |
XLV | Health Care Select SPDR | -693.58 | 14,391.86 | -4.60% |
RSP | Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight | -543.99 | 9,854.04 | -5.23% |
MDY | SPDR S&P MidCap 400 | -497.70 | 15,011.25 | -3.21% |
XLY | Consumer Discretionary Select SPDR | -445.19 | 10,260.07 | -4.16% |
XLK | Technology Select SPDR | -421.89 | 11,420.14 | -3.56% |
XLI | Industrial Select SPDR | -349.06 | 6,279.87 | -5.27% |
IVW | iShares S&P 500 Growth | -338.17 | 12,596.65 | -2.61% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | -3,789.84 | 1,087,601.82 | -0.35% |
International Equity | -6,219.82 | 467,924.35 | -1.33% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 3,570.40 | 307,780.64 | 1.16% |
International Fixed Income | -133.73 | 25,550.84 | -0.52% |
Commodities | 545.23 | 50,643.11 | 1.08% |
Currency | 3.82 | 1,286.45 | 0.30% |
Leveraged | 1,061.88 | 21,471.07 | 4.95% |
Inverse | 971.94 | 20,072.20 | 4.84% |
Asset Allocation | -65.60 | 5,429.51 | -1.21% |
Alternatives | -146.70 | 3,922.69 | -3.74% |
Total: | -4,202.43 | 1,991,682.67 | -0.21% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
BTAL | QuantShares U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta | 86,424 | 491,411 | 568.61% |
EXT | WisdomTree Total Earnings | 12,822 | 69,673 | 543.38% |
HEWI | iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Italy | 96,832 | 513,426 | 530.22% |
ITF | iShares Japan Large-Cap | 50,760 | 267,973 | 527.93% |
IQDY | FlexShares International Quality Dividend Dynamic | 24,869 | 130,024 | 522.84% |
AGZD | WisdomTree Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Zero Duration | 52,276 | 253,099 | 484.16% |
BLV | Vanguard Long-Term Bond | 254,719 | 1,197,374 | 470.08% |
LEMB | iShares Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond | 99,084 | 460,607 | 464.86% |
PWC | PowerShares Dynamic Market | 6,664 | 28,718 | 430.95% |
CEW | WisdomTree Emerging Currency | 35,464 | 152,740 | 430.69% |
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
CVOL | C-Tracks Citi Volatility ETN | 49.75% | 2,717,729 | 5.12 |
VXX | iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | 40.24% | 854,429,298 | 1,377.11 |
VIIX | VelocityShares VIX Short Term ETN | 39.57% | 2,234,368 | 13.52 |
VIXY | ProShares VIX Short-Term | 39.24% | 25,660,001 | 143.22 |
CCX | WisdomTree Commodity Currency | 27.29% | 1,910 | 6.27 |
VXUP | AccuShares Spot CBOE VIX Up Shares | 23.87% | 1,343,737 | 1.40 |
VIIZ | VelocityShares VIX Mid Term ETN | 14.38% | 21,761 | 0.67 |
VIXM | ProShares VIX Mid-term | 13.57% | 414,152 | 28.89 |
VXZ | iPath S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN | 13.51% | 5,458,308 | 53.54 |
AMZA | InfraCap Active MLP | 6.57% | 197,301 | 20.63 |
Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
ASHS | Deutsche X-trackers Harvest CSI 500 China-A Shares Small Cap ETF | -19.10% | 868,919 | 33.15 |
SGDJ | Sprott Junior Gold Miners | -16.98% | 131,345 | 20.13 |
SILJ | PureFunds ISE Junior Silver (Small Cap Miners/Explorers) | -14.60% | 49,931 | 3.53 |
CNXT | Market Vectors ChinaAMC SME-ChiNext | -14.26% | 1,004,273 | 30.21 |
SGDM | Sprott Gold Miners | -13.26% | 472,103 | 111.64 |
RING | iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners | -12.95% | 908,917 | 44.72 |
GDX | Market Vectors Gold Miners | -12.83% | 497,309,717 | 4,538.29 |
GDXJ | Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners | -12.83% | 93,391,640 | 1,201.98 |
PSAU | PowerShares Global Gold and Precious Metals | -12.53% | 249,595 | 17.37 |
GLDX | Global X Gold Explorers | -12.41% | 269,768 | 24.73 |
Top 10 YTD Performers
Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
RODI | Barclays Return on Disability ETN | 0.75 | -1.00 | 26.47 |
DXJH | WisdomTree Japan Hedged Health Care | 0.28 | 0.63 | 14.43 |
BBP | BioShares Biotechnology Products | 0.26 | 2.59 | 29.61 |
CNXT | Market Vectors ChinaAMC SME-ChiNext | 0.23 | -7.87 | 30.21 |
XBI | SPDR S&P Biotech | 0.21 | 3.37 | 2,323.49 |
PSCH | PowerShares S&P SmallCap Health Care | 0.18 | -0.20 | 271.69 |
EIRL | iShares MSCI Ireland Capped | 0.18 | 2.26 | 131.77 |
EDEN | iShares MSCI Denmark Capped | 0.17 | 1.10 | 48.74 |
DXJF | WisdomTree Japan Hedged Financials | 0.16 | 2.47 | 29.64 |
MOM | QuantShares U.S. Market Neutral Momentum | 0.16 | -0.13 | 1.33 |
Bottom 10 YTD Performers
Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
GAZ | iPath Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN | -0.45 | -3.51 | 10.79 |
FCG | First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas | -0.39 | 6.87 | 183.64 |
BRF | Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap | -0.39 | 0.55 | 73.60 |
EWZS | iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap | -0.39 | -1.10 | 26.98 |
PSCE | PowerShares S&P SmallCap Energy | -0.39 | 2.83 | 35.39 |
KOL | Market Vectors Coal | -0.38 | 1.45 | 60.38 |
JJN | iPath Bloomberg Nickel Subindex Total Return ETN | -0.38 | -1.61 | 6.38 |
ICOL | iShares MSCI Colombia Capped | -0.37 | -2.71 | 13.28 |
BRXX | EGShares Brazil Infrastructure | -0.37 | 0.44 | 9.50 |
PLTM | First Trust ISE Global Platinum | -0.37 | -5.91 | 6.21 |
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.