First Weekly Inflows In 3 Weeks
Investors added $6.3 billion to U.S.-listed ETFs this week.
After two weeks of outflows, investors worked up the courage to cautiously add to their ETF positions this week. On net, $6.3 billion entered U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, May 23, according to FactSet. That pushed year-to-date inflows up to $73.5 billion, though that’s still behind last year’s pace of $117 billion.
This week’s inflows came even as trade war jitters still hung over the markets. The S&P 500 revisited the lows from last week at around 2,800, about 5% below its all-time highs, before rebounding slightly on bargain buying.
Funds like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), the iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol U.S.A. ETF (USMV) and the VanEck Vectors Semiconductors ETF (SMH) were among the biggest flows recipients this week.
Safe Haven Inflows
Yet even as investors added to their equity holdings, they aggressively bought up safe-haven bonds. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell as low as 2.29% this week, a level not seen in 1 ½ years.
U.S. fixed income ETFs picked up $1.5 billion in fresh cash, with the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) taking the mantle as the most popular fixed income fund of the period.
EEM Pummeled
Meanwhile, on the outflows side, international equity ETFs fared the worst. That group registered net redemptions of $628 million, largely due to the $842 million that came out of the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM). That fund sank to its lowest levels since the beginning of January, as the ongoing China-U.S. trade war pressured equities across emerging markets.
For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below.
Contact Sumit Roy at [email protected]
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | 4,119.90 | 264,246.36 | 1.56% |
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 777.05 | 175,193.85 | 0.44% |
| IEFA | iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 545.15 | 63,552.14 | 0.86% |
| XLK | Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund | 529.61 | 20,489.84 | 2.58% |
| USMV | iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol U.S.A. ETF | 474.01 | 26,741.26 | 1.77% |
| BND | Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF | 316.41 | 39,236.16 | 0.81% |
| JNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF | 300.67 | 9,034.09 | 3.33% |
| USSG | Xtrackers MSCI U.S.A. ESG Leaders Equity ETF | 279.51 | 1,162.06 | 24.05% |
| SMH | VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF | 257.00 | 1,385.59 | 18.55% |
| SOXX | iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF | 247.39 | 1,427.73 | 17.33% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | -846.51 | 30,962.00 | -2.73% |
| EEM | iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF | -842.15 | 30,761.44 | -2.74% |
| XLU | Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund | -714.94 | 9,338.86 | -7.66% |
| XLV | Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund | -614.13 | 18,294.19 | -3.36% |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | -530.14 | 70,600.45 | -0.75% |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | -251.77 | 41,335.37 | -0.61% |
| KWEB | KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF | -228.91 | 1,496.66 | -15.29% |
| SPLV | Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF | -225.79 | 10,888.54 | -2.07% |
| SPHB | Invesco S&P 500 High Beta ETF | -199.13 | 123.52 | -161.21% |
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | -199.03 | 110,119.28 | -0.18% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 4,916.04 | 2,174,008.73 | 0.23% |
| International Equity | -627.74 | 802,649.35 | -0.08% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 1,456.69 | 648,325.98 | 0.22% |
| International Fixed Income | 190.99 | 73,207.57 | 0.26% |
| Commodities | 75.30 | 60,549.71 | 0.12% |
| Currency | 18.09 | 1,480.11 | 1.22% |
| Leveraged | 368.71 | 36,282.27 | 1.02% |
| Inverse | -129.95 | 11,729.26 | -1.11% |
| Asset Allocation | 8.72 | 9,508.18 | 0.09% |
| Alternatives | -24.78 | 4,567.28 | -0.54% |
| Total: | 6,252.07 | 3,822,308.45 | 0.16% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 20,698.72 | 2,174,008.73 | 0.95% |
| International Equity | 9,702.41 | 802,649.35 | 1.21% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 39,794.38 | 648,325.98 | 6.14% |
| International Fixed Income | 5,617.99 | 73,207.57 | 7.67% |
| Commodities | -2,854.16 | 60,549.71 | -4.71% |
| Currency | -301.23 | 1,480.11 | -20.35% |
| Leveraged | -1,610.66 | 36,282.27 | -4.44% |
| Inverse | 2,329.60 | 11,729.26 | 19.86% |
| Asset Allocation | -471.10 | 9,508.18 | -4.95% |
| Alternatives | 611.84 | 4,567.28 | 13.40% |
| Total: | 73,517.80 | 3,822,308.45 | 1.92% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
| HAUZ | Xtrackers International Real Estate ETF | 65,680 | 608,229 | 926.05% |
| SPHB | Invesco S&P 500 High Beta ETF | 248,919 | 1,630,301 | 654.95% |
| REMX | VanEck Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF | 329,427 | 2,606,558 | 791.24% |
| IFGL | iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF | 126,846 | 594,514 | 468.69% |
| FXB | Invesco CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling Trust | 41,158 | 199,515 | 484.75% |
| USSG | Xtrackers MSCI U.S.A. ESG Leaders Equity ETF | 1,331 | 6,269 | 470.86% |
| EEB | Invesco BRIC ETF | 12,301 | 46,373 | 376.99% |
| GRES | IQ Global Resources ETF | 26,626 | 165,845 | 622.88% |
| ONEY | SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus | 3,102 | 11,210 | 361.36% |
| EWUS | iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small Cap ETF | 2,298 | 7,397 | 321.87% |
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.
