ETFs Have Inflows This Week Despite Volatility

Senior ETF Analyst

Mar 06, 2020

Reviewed by: Sumit Roy

Edited by: Sumit Roy

Another week of intense volatility didn't stop investors from adding to their ETF holdings. Remarkably, they added $9.7 billion to U.S.-listed ETFs, even as financial markets swung around violently. Year-to-date inflows moved up to $86.9 billion, well ahead of last year's pace of $18.2 billion.

The S&P 500 fluctuated no less than 3.5% in every session this week. Though there were a couple relief rallies, stocks remained under immense pressure due to fears about the coronavirus. At the same time, Treasuries continued to surge, sending the 10-year yield sharply below 1% for the first time ever (bond prices and yields move inversely).

Treasuries Surge

Unsurprisingly, given the action of the week, U.S. fixed income ETFs picked up the bulk of new assets. A cool $8.5 billion flowed into the space, including $1.2 billion into the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) and $1.2 billion into the iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY).

Interestingly, the iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) picked up $2.1 billion, even as prices of junk bonds slid on economic slowdown concerns.

But even as investors plowed money into fixed income ETFs, they also put a modest amount into U.S. equity ETFs. That segment gathered $1.7 billion in new cash, led by the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU).

Commodity ETFs also managed to eke out a net inflow thanks to buying in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD). Gold prices toppeed $1,670/oz during the week, close to seven-year highs.

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
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	4,156.40	140,082.99	2.97%
HYG	iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	2,063.18	16,395.42	12.58%
BIL	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF	1,194.06	10,088.74	11.84%
SHY	iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	1,157.94	18,535.45	6.25%
XLU	Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund	999.77	13,219.82	7.56%
TIP	iShares TIPS Bond ETF	824.51	22,725.83	3.63%
IEF	iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	784.16	22,182.15	3.54%
QQQ	Invesco QQQ Trust	781.01	91,000.51	0.86%
XLE	Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund	740.92	9,269.37	7.99%
GLD	SPDR Gold Trust	693.76	49,993.61	1.39%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
LQD	iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	-1,236.16	33,698.57	-3.67%
XLF	Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund	-832.09	20,556.51	-4.05%
EWJ	iShares MSCI Japan ETF	-819.61	10,144.47	-8.08%
VNQ	Vanguard Real Estate ETF	-687.09	37,919.07	-1.81%
SHV	iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	-674.70	20,441.85	-3.30%
BKLN	Invesco Senior Loan ETF	-556.53	4,384.83	-12.69%
IVE	iShares S&P 500 Value ETF	-536.33	16,338.77	-3.28%
TVIX	VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short-Term ETN	-478.80	1,027.87	-46.58%
EEM	iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	-461.42	26,119.70	-1.77%
SPLV	Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF	-453.17	12,403.14	-3.65%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	1,660.46	2,460,764.65	0.07%
International Equity	-2,489.68	840,826.70	-0.30%
U.S. Fixed Income	8,453.24	818,762.89	1.03%
International Fixed Income	422.97	96,516.27	0.44%
Commodities ETFs	691.47	90,943.28	0.76%
Currency	90.92	1,501.32	6.06%
Leveraged	1,019.66	40,271.15	2.53%
Inverse	64.06	12,108.24	0.53%
Asset Allocation	12.47	10,208.35	0.12%
Alternatives	-219.12	5,004.27	-4.38%
Total:	9,706.46	4,376,907.13	0.22%

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	23,277.04	2,460,764.65	0.95%
International Equity	10,808.21	840,826.70	1.29%
U.S. Fixed Income	39,272.18	818,762.89	4.80%
International Fixed Income	4,977.89	96,516.27	5.16%
Commodities ETFs	5,276.88	90,943.28	5.80%
Currency	162.79	1,501.32	10.84%
Leveraged	3,073.01	40,271.15	7.63%
Inverse	180.11	12,108.24	1.49%
Asset Allocation	149.60	10,208.35	1.47%
Alternatives	-285.07	5,004.27	-5.70%
Total:	86,892.65	4,376,907.13	1.99%

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

Ticker	Name	Average Volume (30 Day)	1 Week Average Volume	% of Average
RBUS	Nationwide Risk-Based U.S. Equity ETF	11,590	81,327	701.71%
MXDU	Nationwide Maximum Diversification U.S. Core Equity ETF	12,900	89,222	691.66%
RBIN	Nationwide Risk-Based International Equity ETF	6,456	44,026	681.92%
FUMB	First Trust Ultra Short Duration Municipal ETF	28,338	118,741	419.01%
DVP	Deep Value ETF	199,115	1,278,627	642.15%
DBP	Invesco DB Precious Metals Fund	43,154	157,898	365.90%
CRBN	iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF	25,467	72,175	283.41%
FGM	First Trust Germany AlphaDEX Fund	8,766	43,208	492.91%
QLTA	iShares Aaa-A Rated Corporate Bond ETF	80,346	244,161	303.89%
GNMA	iShares GNMA Bond ETF	33,496	88,164	263.21%

Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded

Ticker	Name	Weekly Performance	Weekly Volume	AUM ($, mm)
GSC	GS Connect S&P GSCI Enhanced Commodity TR Strategy ETN	16.11%	2,533	12,403.14
GDXJ	VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF	11.48%	124,916,374	4,947.86
GDX	VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF	11.10%	401,134,228	12,813.95
SGDJ	Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF	11.02%	142,647	56.52
RING	iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF	10.91%	2,907,002	406.88
IDU	iShares U.S. Utilities ETF	10.76%	633,989	1,221.36
IHF	iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF	10.72%	1,525,611	932.76
PUI	Invesco DWA Utilities Momentum ETF	10.67%	364,064	148.32
XLU	Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund	10.52%	223,790,279	13,219.82
UTES	Virtus Reaves Utilities ETF	10.26%	35,977	36.39

Top 10 YTD Performers

Ticker	Name	YTD Performance	Weekly Performance	AUM ($, mm)
VIXY	ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF	77.31%	0.96%	242.89
VIIX	VelocityShares Daily Long VIX Short-Term ETN	76.64%	0.80%	29.79
VXX	iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN	76.46%	0.83%	956.33
EVIX	VelocityShares 1X Long VSTOXX Futures ETN	73.98%	-1.89%	2.21
PALL	Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares ETF	29.70%	-0.81%	396.43
ZROZ	PIMCO 25+ Year Zero Coupon US Treasury Index ETF	24.84%	-1.28%	420.48
TAN	Invesco Solar ETF	24.45%	5.62%	671.47
EDV	Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury ETF	22.86%	-0.14%	1,584.99
VIXM	ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF	22.17%	1.99%	35.48
VXZ	iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN	21.95%	1.62%	26.88

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.

Sumit Roy

| Contact: [email protected]

Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com, where he has worked for 13 years. He creates a variety of content for the platform, including news articles, analysis pieces, videos and podcasts.

Before joining etf.com, Sumit was the managing editor and commodities analyst for Hard Assets Investor. In those roles, he was responsible for most of the operations of HAI, a website dedicated to education about commodities investing.

Though he still closely follows the commodities beat, Sumit covers a much broader assortment of topics for etf.com, with a particular focus on stock and bond exchange-traded funds.

He is the host of etf.com’s Talk ETFs, a popular video series that features weekly interviews with thought leaders in the ETF industry. Sumit is also co-host of Exchange Traded Fridays, etf.com’s weekly podcast series.

He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys climbing the city’s steep hills, playing chess and snowboarding in Lake Tahoe.

View Bio Follow Author

ETFs Have Inflows This Week Despite Volatility

ETFs Have Inflows This Week Despite Volatility

Related Stories

Related Topics

More From Sumit Roy

Related Media