ETFs See Third Weekly Outflow In 5 Weeks
'SPY' dragged down overall ETF flows, but there were some bright spots in the latest weekly data.
After two weeks of solid gains, ETF flows slipped back into the red this week amid gnawing concerns about trade wars. In total, U.S.-listed ETFs had outflows of $9.6 billion during the week ending Thursday, March 8, according to FactSet. That’s the third weekly outflow in five weeks.
Still, even with the slippage, ETF flows remain well in positive territory for the year thanks to a strong January. Year-to-date inflows last stood at $52.7 billion.
As has been the case in recent weeks, investors’ trepidation remained focused on U.S. equity ETFs, which had outflows of $9.3 billion just on its own. The other main categories, including international equity ETFs, U.S. fixed-income ETFs and commodity ETFs, didn’t see much flows action in either direction.
One fund alone was largely responsible for the poor showing of U.S. equity ETFs. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) had redemptions of a whopping $12.8 billion during the period, bringing its year-to-date outflows to $18.5 billion.
Strip out SPY and the picture doesn’t look nearly as bad. In fact, a number of U.S.-listed ETFs garnered solid inflows during the week, including the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) and the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), which took in a combined $1.9 billion.
On Thursday, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas called IVV, IEFA, the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) and the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) BlackRock’s "Four Headed Monster," which are responsible for more than half of the total year-to-date inflows for ETFs.
For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
IEFA | iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 1,842.15 | 53,315.74 | 3.58% |
IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 1,096.22 | 156,651.05 | 0.70% |
XLP | Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund | 642.74 | 8,076.25 | 8.65% |
FDN | First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund | 521.88 | 7,100.73 | 7.93% |
VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 490.21 | 90,347.10 | 0.55% |
IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | 379.03 | 41,221.85 | 0.93% |
VAW | Vanguard Materials ETF | 334.48 | 2,771.11 | 13.73% |
KRE | SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF | 253.71 | 5,401.63 | 4.93% |
GDX | VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF | 233.02 | 7,680.83 | 3.13% |
ISTB | iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF | 231.29 | 1,825.18 | 14.51% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -12,749.86 | 264,010.83 | -4.61% |
AGG | iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | -914.71 | 53,615.12 | -1.68% |
VGT | Vanguard Information Technology ETF | -820.18 | 18,858.98 | -4.17% |
XLI | Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -542.92 | 12,412.18 | -4.19% |
EZU | iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF | -399.47 | 15,658.35 | -2.49% |
JNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF | -359.11 | 8,680.67 | -3.97% |
EPP | iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan ETF | -297.65 | 2,948.15 | -9.17% |
XLRE | Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund | -296.38 | 2,235.03 | -11.71% |
HYG | iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -264.19 | 14,911.92 | -1.74% |
DXJ | WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | -257.86 | 6,859.96 | -3.62% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | -9,345.18 | 1,955,819.49 | -0.48% |
International Equity | 300.88 | 842,207.97 | 0.04% |
U.S. Fixed Income | -610.57 | 518,540.16 | -0.12% |
International Fixed Income | -73.69 | 62,562.58 | -0.12% |
Commodities | 128.31 | 69,546.30 | 0.18% |
Currency | -18.83 | 1,355.42 | -1.39% |
Leveraged | 48.13 | 36,529.81 | 0.13% |
Inverse | 55.73 | 13,682.99 | 0.41% |
Asset Allocation | 32.60 | 8,926.22 | 0.37% |
Alternatives | -161.06 | 4,292.45 | -3.75% |
Total: | -9,643.67 | 3,513,463.39 | -0.27% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
HYLV | IQ S&P High Yield Low Volatility Bond ETF | 5,620 | 28,208 | 501.94% |
BFOR | ALPS Barron’s 400 ETF | 34,622 | 147,366 | 425.65% |
EELV | PowerShares S&P Emerging Markets Low Volatility Portfolio | 79,078 | 179,936 | 227.54% |
HFXE | IQ 50 Percent Hedged FTSE Europe ETF | 3,929 | 7,634 | 194.28% |
IBDC | iShares iBonds Mar 2020 Term Corporate ETF | 12,048 | 22,560 | 187.25% |
AGT | iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF | 31,781 | 59,322 | 186.66% |
IGRO | iShares International Dividend Growth ETF | 6,782 | 12,113 | 178.61% |
AGGP | IQ Enhanced Core Plus Bond U.S. ETF | 268,567 | 439,706 | 163.72% |
CSML | IQ Chaikin U.S. Small Cap ETF | 112,106 | 181,024 | 161.48% |
IBDD | iShares iBonds Mar 2023 Term Corporate ETF | 9,921 | 14,094 | 142.06% |
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.