ETFs Lose $11B In Short Week

The U.S. ETF industry posted its second straight week of net outflows in the Good Friday-shortened trading week ending April 14, driven primarily by deep outflows in the three largest S&P 500-tracking funds. It is the first time the industry has posted two straight weeks of net outflows since late March 2020.

U.S.-listed funds posted net outflows of $11.2 billion, according to ETF.com data provider FactSet. The industry now has net inflows of $187.6 billion year-to-date and held $6.9 trillion in assets under management as of last Thursday. 

S&P Rout 

The S&P 500 index lost 1.8% last week amid another red-hot inflation reading, giving more reason for the Fed to issue a 50 basis point hike to its prime rate in two weeks’ time and raising fears in the market over potentially hiking into a recession. 

U.S. equities as an asset class lost $17.5 billion, led by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) shedding $5.8 billion and the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) losing $5.6 billion. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) far less losses than its counterparts, with a $2.56 billion outflow. 

The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) struggled alongside the S&P 500, seeing $2.5 billion of outflows. 

Investor dollars allocated to broad equities rotated instead to the iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (USMV) and the iShares Core High Dividend ETF (HDV), adding a combined $1.1 billion. 

Mixed Credit Outlook 

Corporate bonds were a hotbed of action, with the iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) adding $975.8 million to lead inflows among all ETFs. BlackRock’s sister fund for junk bonds went in the opposite direction, as the iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) lost $1.2 billion in the period. 

The SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) added nearly $750 million in the week to round out fixed income gainers as some investors sought the safety of near-maturity bonds, while the JPMorgan Inflation Managed Bond ETF (JCPI) lost just under $641 million. 

Semiconductor Bets Ramp Up 

Investors snapped up exposure to the semiconductor industry last week, betting that the downtrodden stocks would recover during the earnings season. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) added $883 million in the period, while the triple-leveraged Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (SOXL) added $557.8 million as part of its nearly $1 billion in net inflows in the past several days. 

 
For a full list of last week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below: 

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

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

Top 10 YTD Performers

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.