ETFs Pull In $26B as RSP & EWJ Shine
Year-to-date inflows hit $291 billion.
Investors added $25.7 billion to U.S.-listed ETFs in the week ending Friday, Feb. 20, pushing year-to-date inflows to more than $291 billion.
U.S. equity and international equity ETFs were virtually tied for the lead, each gathering roughly $8.1 billion during the week. U.S. fixed income ETFs followed with $7.5 billion of inflows, while international fixed income ETFs brought in more than $3 billion.
On the other end of the spectrum, leveraged ETFs saw the largest outflows, shedding $910 million. Currency ETFs lost $440 million.
VOO Leads, RSP Picks Up Momentum
At the individual fund level, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) led the pack, as it often does, with $4.1 billion of inflows. The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) followed with $2.7 billion.
More notable, however, was the $2.3 billion that flowed into the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP).
While the traditional market-cap-weighted S&P 500 has hovered near record highs and is roughly flat for the year, the equal-weight version has climbed to fresh records. RSP is up more than 5% year to date, compared with little change for VOO. The flows suggest some investors may be positioning for continued strength outside the market’s biggest names.
The Fidelity High Dividend ETF (FDVV) also attracted strong interest, pulling in just under $2 billion. FDVV invests in U.S. and developed international equities that exhibit high dividend yield, low payout ratios and strong dividend growth characteristics.
International Strength Continues
International stock funds remained in demand last week . The iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) gathered $959 million, while the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) picked up $949 million.
Both funds are outperforming the S&P 500 this year. EWJ is up 13% year to date, while VWO has gained 8%.
Rounding out the top 10 was the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE), which brought in $713 million. Energy has been the best-performing sector of the year so far, with gains of 23%.
Silver Sees Notable Outflows
On the outflow side, the most notable move came from the iShares Silver Trust (SLV), which saw $1.3 billion in redemptions during the week. The ETF has experienced $2.9 billion in outflows year to date.
For a full list of last week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below.
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change< |
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 4,106.21 | 865,545.84 | 0.47 |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust Series I | 2,691.03 | 396,943.57 | 0.68 |
| RSP | Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF | 2,285.97 | 89,153.81 | 2.56 |
| FDVV | Fidelity High Dividend ETF | 1,988.24 | 10,786.04 | 18.43 |
| VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 1,246.65 | 584,943.96 | 0.21 |
| SGOV | iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF | 1,005.28 | 74,554.45 | 1.35 |
| EWJ | iShares MSCI Japan ETF | 958.54 | 19,419.60 | 4.94 |
| VWO | Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF | 949.21 | 116,338.71 | 0.82 |
| VCIT | Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF | 726.27 | 65,375.61 | 1.11 |
| XLE | Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund | 713.06 | 37,791.88 | 1.89 |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -9,565.92 | 695,771.94 | -1.37 |
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | -3,162.70 | 749,095.08 | -0.42 |
| SLV | iShares Silver Trust | -1,282.33 | 38,780.74 | -3.31 |
| DIA | SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust | -1,187.49 | 43,603.20 | -2.72 |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | -1,106.93 | 75,671.09 | -1.46 |
| XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -969.31 | 51,938.24 | -1.87 |
| QQQM | Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF | -674.95 | 70,714.07 | -0.95 |
| XBI | SPDR S&P BIOTECH ETF | -669.99 | 8,003.15 | -8.37 |
| VTEB | Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF | -559.57 | 41,895.27 | -1.34 |
| VPL | Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF | -504.69 | 9,081.38 | -5.56 |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| Alternatives | 553.80 | 116,615.38 | 0.47% |
| Asset Allocation | 266.38 | 36,234.39 | 0.74% |
| Commodities E T Fs | -735.65 | 388,981.11 | -0.19% |
| Currency | -439.62 | 104,365.03 | -0.42% |
| International Equity | 8,051.10 | 2,558,924.18 | 0.31% |
| International Fixed Income | 3,042.06 | 398,483.81 | 0.76% |
| Inverse | 233.26 | 13,180.47 | 1.77% |
| Leveraged | -910.34 | 144,598.51 | -0.63% |
| Us Equity | 8,109.09 | 8,390,631.88 | 0.10% |
| Us Fixed Income | 7,519.30 | 1,981,721.52 | 0.38% |
| Total: | 25,689.38 | 14,133,736.28 | 0.18% |
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.
