ETFs See $7.9B of Outflows

U.S.-listed ETFs continued to lose assets during the week ending April 22 with a net outflow of $7.9 billion, driven primarily by $17.2 billion in outflows from key S&P 500 funds from Vanguard and BlackRock. 

The U.S. ETF industry had a net gain of $179.5 billion year-to-date as of last Friday and held a total of $6.8 trillion in assets under management. 

Flows For S&P 500 Funds Split 

The mix of head winds against the global economy led to a 2.73% drop in the S&P 500 in the week, sending the three largest ETFs in the U.S. markets in different flow directions. 
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) led all ETFs, with $1.8 billion in inflows, showing a slight uptick in its use as a trading tool. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) saw an extreme amount of redemptions, at $9.5 billion and $7.7 billion, respectively, amounting to AUM reductions of 3.5% and 2.5%. 

However, it’s unclear if the outflows are a change in sentiment or part of a short-term tax strategy. VOO has added $13.6 billion in net flows year-to-date, fitting with Vanguard’s strategy of consistently investing in indexes, while IVV has net inflows of $2.17 billion. 

The iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF (IVW) also lost just over $1 billion, and the SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Value ETF (SPYV) lost $637.6 million as a risk-off attitude in broad large cap equities took hold. 

Dividends Gain 

Several dividend-focused ETFs made the top 10 inflows list for the period, with the iShares Core High Dividend ETF (HDV) adding $452 million, the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI) taking in $371 million and the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) adding $341 million. 

Quality Corporate Debt, Tax-Free Bonds Advance 

On the fixed income side, investors largely jumped into investment-grade corporate debt as the iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) added $1.2 billion. That was likely fueled in part by fears of a broader economic slowdown, combined with a $720 million outflow from the SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF (JNK). 

There were also plays into the safety of government debt. The Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VTEB) added $489.5 million, while the SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) added $371.1 million. 

 
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.