ETFs Gain $9.5B In Risk-Off Week
Russia-Ukraine tension outweighed inflation as investors bought into bond funds.
Heightening tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine piled onto inflation and Federal Reserve rate hikes, giving investors reason to put only $9.5 billion into U.S.-listed ETFs last week versus $24 billion the week prior.
The U.S. ETF industry has now gained just over $91 billion in new assets this year, according to ETF.com data provider FactSet, and holds $6.8 trillion in assets under management.
Heading Into Bond Safe Havens
Although the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) led inflows on the week, with a respective $1.6 billion and $1.5 billion, most of the largest-inflow ETFs on the week were in U.S. fixed income. That asset class added a net $2.95 billion in the period compared to net outflows of $3.94 billion last week.
The Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond (VCIT) led fixed income funds, with $1.1 billion on the week, followed by the Vanguard International Bond ETF (BNDX) and the Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Index ETF (VGSH) at $751 million and just under $700 million, respectively.
The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) and the SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) also appeared in the top 10 list, with $548 million and $536 million, respectively, suggesting demand for fixed income safety ranging from Treasuries to riskier corporate bonds.
One notable inflow on the week was a $624 million inflow for the iShares Paris-Aligned Climate MSCI USA ETF (PABU), the latest ESG fund from BlackRock, which debuted on Feb. 8. All of those assets came last Thursday, but it’s not clear if the inflow is the first leg of a heartbeat trade or an allocation from BlackRock itself. The firm declined to comment.
Broad Selloffs In Equities
The U.S. equities asset class generally dominates inflows but only managed to add a meager $2.6 billion last week.
Notably, international equities saw a $3.7 billion outflow from the iShares MSCI Kokusai ETF (TOK). The ex-Japan international equity fund barely registers flows on a daily basis but had a massive $3.7 billion inflow in January that was later withdrawn in two tranches in what appears to be a wash trade last week.
The far more liquid SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) saw the second-largest outflows, with $2.3 billion pulled, marking more than $25 billion in withdrawals year-to-date.
Losses were scattered across strategies for other equity ETFs on the week. The Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO) and the Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT) lost $991 million and $357 million, respectively, while the sector-specific Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) and the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) lost $986 million and $720 million, respectively.
Three fixed income ETFs also dotted the lower end of the biggest outflows list, with the iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF (EMB) losing $503 million due to its 3.3% weighting to Russian debt.
The Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury Index ETF (VGIT) and the SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) lost $386 million and $365 million, respectively.
For a full list of last week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | 1,689.10 | 60,384.67 | 2.80% |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | 1,507.91 | 181,973.99 | 0.83% |
| VCIT | Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF | 1,081.66 | 46,426.02 | 2.33% |
| BNDX | Vanguard Total International Bond ETF | 751.30 | 46,402.99 | 1.62% |
| VGSH | Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Index ETF | 699.39 | 13,649.48 | 5.12% |
| IEF | iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 641.24 | 16,655.30 | 3.85% |
| PABU | iShares Paris-Aligned Climate MSCI USA ETF | 624.07 | 613.23 | 101.77% |
| TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | 548.06 | 15,359.27 | 3.57% |
| JNK | SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF | 536.31 | 7,674.67 | 6.99% |
| VWO | Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF | 498.67 | 83,381.58 | 0.60% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| TOK | iShares MSCI Kokusai ETF | -3,755.88 | 184.69 | -2,033.64% |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -2,324.26 | 394,409.41 | -0.59% |
| VO | Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF | -991.11 | 53,607.89 | -1.85% |
| XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -985.85 | 48,285.07 | -2.04% |
| VGT | Vanguard Information Technology ETF | -719.90 | 48,270.02 | -1.49% |
| ESGU | iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF | -547.58 | 23,630.17 | -2.32% |
| EMB | iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF | -503.58 | 17,053.62 | -2.95% |
| VGIT | Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury Index ETF | -386.20 | 8,693.18 | -4.44% |
| BIL | SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF | -365.64 | 14,195.97 | -2.58% |
| VOT | Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF | -357.38 | 10,798.80 | -3.31% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 2,619.83 | 4,082,959.25 | 0.06% |
| International Equity | 557.98 | 1,295,175.82 | 0.04% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 2,953.14 | 1,064,823.20 | 0.28% |
| International Fixed Income | 1,228.97 | 160,039.46 | 0.77% |
| Commodities | 1,349.80 | 151,739.88 | 0.89% |
| Currency | 21.61 | 3,199.56 | 0.68% |
| Leveraged | 286.05 | 62,468.79 | 0.46% |
| Inverse | 399.01 | 15,086.94 | 2.64% |
| Asset Allocation | 21.49 | 19,878.20 | 0.11% |
| Alternatives | 108.81 | 7,246.17 | 1.50% |
| Total: | 9,546.70 | 6,862,617.27 | 0.14% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 45,212.75 | 4,082,959.25 | 1.11% |
| International Equity | 31,776.63 | 1,295,175.82 | 2.45% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | -8,149.34 | 1,064,823.20 | -0.77% |
| International Fixed Income | 5,159.10 | 160,039.46 | 3.22% |
| Commodities | 7,754.71 | 151,739.88 | 5.11% |
| Currency | 163.79 | 3,199.56 | 5.12% |
| Leveraged | 5,324.15 | 62,468.79 | 8.52% |
| Inverse | 2,973.38 | 15,086.94 | 19.71% |
| Asset Allocation | 515.84 | 19,878.20 | 2.60% |
| Alternatives | 320.18 | 7,246.17 | 4.42% |
| Total: | 91,051.19 | 6,862,617.27 | 1.33% |
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| WINN | Harbor Long-Term Growers ETF | 92.80% | 58,938 | 7.33 |
| UNG | United States Natural Gas Fund LP | 7.70% | 30,835,455 | 302.42 |
| GAZ | iPath Series B Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN | 6.86% | 96,715 | 10.19 |
| PLTM | GraniteShares Platinum Trust | 6.55% | 173,415 | 45.46 |
| KURE | KraneShares MSCI All China Health Care Index ETF | 6.40% | 309,036 | 130.31 |
| CHNA | Loncar China BioPharma ETF | 6.28% | 2,263 | 6.83 |
| PGM | iPath Series B Bloomberg Platinum Subindex Total Return ETN | 6.21% | 30,603 | 7.23 |
| UNL | United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund LP | 6.01% | 297,533 | 24.49 |
| PPLT | Aberdeen Standard Physical Platinum Shares ETF | 5.75% | 518,225 | 1,238.89 |
| KEJI | Global X China Innovation ETF | 5.66% | 1,319 | 3.28 |
Top 10 YTD Performers
| Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
| OIH | VanEck Oil Services ETF | 32.89% | 2.62% | 2,813.45 |
| SARK | Tuttle Capital Short Innovation ETF | 30.16% | 3.96% | 318.55 |
| IEZ | iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF | 29.64% | 2.83% | 184.74 |
| XES | SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF | 27.43% | 2.24% | 230.67 |
| SOGU | The Short De-SPAC ETF | 26.05% | 1.00% | 33.57 |
| PXJ | Invesco Dynamic Oil & Gas Services ETF | 25.79% | 2.56% | 26.81 |
| UNG | United States Natural Gas Fund LP | 25.46% | 7.70% | 302.42 |
| PALL | Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares ETF | 25.20% | -0.28% | 402.46 |
| GAZ | iPath Series B Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN | 24.08% | 6.86% | 10.19 |
| VXX | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN | 23.91% | -1.50% | 1,048.85 |
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.
