ETFs See Record Weekly Flows Of $71B

Senior ETF Analyst

Mar 19, 2021

Reviewed by: Sumit Roy

Edited by: Sumit Roy

Inflows for U.S.-listed ETFs shattered records this week amid a combination of tax-related creation activity and continued strong demand from investors.

A net $71 billion flowed into the space during the week ending Thursday, March 18, according to the latest data from FactSet.

Padded By Heartbeat Trades

Judging by the spiky inflows for broad vanilla ETFs like the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) and the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD), it’s likely that this week’s massive inflows figure was padded by tax-related “heartbeat” trades, much of which may reverse next week.

Still, ETF inflows have been strong all year, so it wouldn’t be surprising if investors continued to plow money into these and other products during the week.

Indeed, in less than three months, $252.5 billion has flowed into ETFs, more than triple the $70.7 billion seen at this same time a year ago. Extrapolating the current pace, U.S.-listed ETFS are on track to haul in more than $1 trillion this year, which, if it came to pass, would blow the existing annual record of $476.1 billion out of the water.

US Equity ETFs Lead Flows

Following this week’s moves, U.S. equity ETFs are the most in-demand category of funds, with year-to-date inflows of $138.1 billion. That’s followed by international equity ETFs, with $78.1 billion; and U.S. fixed income ETFs, with inflows of $26.1 billion year-to-date.

During the week, the S&P 500 inched up to a fresh record high of 3,974, holding just below the 4,000 level as it’s done for the past month or so.

Meanwhile, Treasuries continued to sell off, with the 10-year yield spiking as high as 1.75% on Thursday (bond yields and prices move inversely).

The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) and the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) were notable flows losers during the week.

For a full list the top inflows and outflows of the week and the year as a whole, see the tables below:

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
VIG	Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF	12,592.05	67,318.36	18.71%
SCHD	Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF	5,186.43	25,637.30	20.23%
VO	Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF	3,627.28	49,687.01	7.30%
VB	Vanguard Small-Cap ETF	2,562.59	47,255.11	5.42%
VXF	Vanguard Extended Market ETF	1,797.66	17,825.61	10.08%
VBK	Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF	1,577.72	17,214.96	9.16%
RSP	Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF	1,553.45	24,605.47	6.31%
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	1,549.98	205,381.58	0.75%
IJH	iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF	1,502.95	63,180.15	2.38%
QQQ	Invesco QQQ Trust	1,296.16	153,742.16	0.84%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
HYLB	Xtrackers USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	-644.35	6,566.31	-9.81%
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	-548.58	339,866.09	-0.16%
EFV	iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF	-390.56	11,742.24	-3.33%
GLD	SPDR Gold Trust	-387.41	58,283.61	-0.66%
IEF	iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	-352.96	13,759.63	-2.57%
GEM	Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF	-345.98	1,339.83	-25.82%
USMV	iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF	-340.76	28,265.33	-1.21%
SHV	iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	-329.33	15,971.58	-2.06%
IGV	iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF	-313.71	5,121.36	-6.13%
TIP	iShares TIPS Bond ETF	-200.64	25,792.81	-0.78%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	60,308.22	3,494,897.12	1.73%
International Equity	6,698.25	1,184,670.70	0.57%
U.S. Fixed Income	3,164.28	971,168.64	0.33%
International Fixed Income	889.25	128,305.39	0.69%
Commodities	-427.40	132,579.01	-0.32%
Currency	-30.28	1,879.83	-1.61%
Leveraged	412.57	55,328.44	0.75%
Inverse	-177.08	11,411.35	-1.55%
Asset Allocation	89.61	14,485.76	0.62%
Alternatives	79.55	5,993.25	1.33%
Total:	71,006.97	6,000,719.48	1.18%

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	138,132.37	3,494,897.12	3.95%
International Equity	78,055.02	1,184,670.70	6.59%
U.S. Fixed Income	26,141.11	971,168.64	2.69%
International Fixed Income	7,994.16	128,305.39	6.23%
Commodities	-4,710.05	132,579.01	-3.55%
Currency	-10.19	1,879.83	-0.54%
Leveraged	3,087.88	55,328.44	5.58%
Inverse	1,878.30	11,411.35	16.46%
Asset Allocation	799.14	14,485.76	5.52%
Alternatives	1,104.31	5,993.25	18.43%
Total:	252,472.05	6,000,719.48	4.21%

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.

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ETFs See Record Weekly Flows Of $71B

ETFs See Record Weekly Flows Of $71B

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