Flows Show Bargain Buying In Junk Bonds

The latest flows data suggest investors extended their buying of fixed-income ETFs into the junk bond space this week.

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Markets experienced more turbulence this week as growth fears continued to be on investors' minds. Nevertheless, stocks and bonds managed to close out the period on a positive note following a surprise move by the Bank of Japan to cut interest rates into negative territory.

The flows data likewise reflected cautious optimism by investors. The data, which runs through the week ending Thursday, Jan. 28, showed that investors added $6.6 billion to U.S.-listed ETFs, with fixed-income products leading the way for a second-straight week.

Bargain Buying In Junk Bond ETFs

However, unlike last week, the buying in fixed-income this week was not limited to Treasuy ETFs, but extended into junk bond ETFs. The iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG | B-68) and the SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK | B-68) were big winners, with inflows of $1.3 billion and $880 million, respectively.

This is not to say that Treasury ETFs were out of favor. They contined to see strong inflows and performance as yields on developed-market government bonds touched their lowest levels in months (or the lowest level on record, in the case of Japan). The iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV | A-97) had inflows of $706 million. In total, fixed-income ETFs saw inflows of $5.7 billion.

Stocks Mixed

In contrast to the across-the-board buying in fixed income this week, the fund flows for equity ETFs was much more mixed. Some high-volume ETFs such as the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY | A-98) and the iShares Russell 2000 (IWM | A-92) picked up assets, while others such as the iShares Russell 1000 Growth (IWF | A-92) and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average Trust (DIA | A-85) lost assets.

On the whole, U.S. equity ETFs eked out an inflow of $196 million, while international equity eked out a gain of $153 million.

Finally, it's worth noting that in aggregate, commodity ETFs saw a solid inflow of $566 million in the week. However, no single commodity ETF made the top 10 inflows list.


Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

TickerNameNet Flows ($,mm)AUM ($, mm)AUM % Change
SPYSPDR S&P 5001,856.90169,651.721.11%
IWMiShares Russell 20001,366.0724,322.325.95%
HYGiShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond1,289.0713,628.5410.45%
JNKSPDR Barclays High Yield Bond875.599,237.9310.47%
SHViShares Short Treasury Bond705.645,766.6013.94%
EWJiShares MSCI Japan666.0718,835.993.67%
LQDiShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond443.4423,797.111.90%
IVViShares Core S&P 500400.8764,819.220.62%
EZUiShares MSCI Eurozone367.6013,852.782.73%
VOOVanguard S&P 500315.4338,965.760.82%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

TickerNameNet Flows ($,mm)AUM ($, mm)AUM % Change
IWFiShares Russell 1000 Growth-630.9327,735.39-2.22%
DIASPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average Trust-425.5811,326.02-3.62%
MDYSPDR S&P MidCap 400-413.4613,252.79-3.03%
IWDiShares Russell 1000 Value-375.8923,813.21-1.55%
EEMiShares MSCI Emerging Markets-352.8417,690.40-1.96%
IWRiShares Russell Mid-Cap-331.1011,280.39-2.85%
XLFFinancial Select SPDR-297.1916,016.62-1.82%
IWBiShares Russell 1000-257.0513,437.98-1.88%
DXJWisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity-236.5512,391.91-1.87%
XLYConsumer Discretionary Select SPDR-235.2810,033.77-2.29%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

Net Flows ($, mm)AUM ($, mm)% of AUM
U.S. Equity195.741,086,254.020.02%
International Equity153.49437,050.000.04%
U.S. Fixed Income5,663.53340,086.971.67%
International Fixed Income42.9527,735.820.15%
Commodities566.2348,059.621.18%
Currency59.341,424.764.16%
Leveraged-80.3220,646.41-0.39%
Inverse11.7219,018.680.06%
Asset Allocation-183.945,250.53-3.50%
Alternatives194.313,023.206.43%
Total:6,623.061,988,550.010.33%

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

TickerNameAverage Volume
(30 Day)
1 Week Average
Volume
% of Average
NFOGuggenheim Insider Sentiment16,13352,985328.43%
CRBNiShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target9,09430,864339.37%
FHKFirst Trust Hong Kong AlphaDEX26,79976,684286.14%
DBKODeutsche X-trackers MSCI South Korea Hedged Equity ETF78,392279,386356.40%
MLPCC-Tracks Miller/Howard MLP Fundamental ETN87,216390,912448.21%
SCHPSchwab U.S. TIPS143,066376,587263.23%
FBGUBS AG FI Enhanced Big Cap Growth ETN12,91615,482119.86%
DSIiShares MSCI KLD 400 Social54,68370,951129.75%
SPHBPowerShares S&P 500 High Beta77,94683,246106.80%
EWOiShares MSCI Austria Capped84,347159,382188.96%

Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded

TickerNameWeekly PerformanceWeekly VolumeAUM ($, mm)
XLPConsumer Staples Select SPDR0.00%57,395,4908,626.16
XLFFinancial Select SPDR0.00%227,047,29816,016.62
SPYXSPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free0.00%24,89356.79
XLUUtilities Select SPDR0.00%53,773,5636,507.06
ETHOEtho Climate Leadership U.S.0.00%5,4652.23
IMOMMomentumShares International Quantitative Momentum0.00%28,2437.07
EZRWisdomTree Europe Local Recovery0.00%3,7003.37
XITKSPDR FactSet Innovative Technology0.00%2,6914.83
BITERestaurant0.00%4,3262.36
XLYConsumer Discretionary Select SPDR0.00%32,926,14410,033.77

Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded

TickerNameWeekly PerformanceWeekly VolumeAUM ($, mm)
XLPConsumer Staples Select SPDR0.00%57,395,4908,626.16
XLFFinancial Select SPDR0.00%227,047,29816,016.62
SPYXSPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free0.00%24,89356.79
XLUUtilities Select SPDR0.00%53,773,5636,507.06
ETHOEtho Climate Leadership U.S.0.00%5,4652.23
IMOMMomentumShares International Quantitative Momentum0.00%28,2437.07
EZRWisdomTree Europe Local Recovery0.00%3,7003.37
XITKSPDR FactSet Innovative Technology0.00%2,6914.83
BITERestaurant0.00%4,3262.36
XLYConsumer Discretionary Select SPDR0.00%32,926,14410,033.77

Top 10 YTD Performers

TickerNameYTD PerformanceWeekly PerformanceAUM ($, mm)
IMOMMomentumShares International Quantitative Momentum0.00%0.00%7.07
SPYXSPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free0.00%0.00%56.79
HDRWWisdomTree Global Ex-U.S. Hedged Real Estate0.00%0.00%2.20
DDBILegg Mason Developed EX-US Diversified Core0.00%0.00%2.20
EZRWisdomTree Europe Local Recovery0.00%0.00%3.37
ELKUElkhorn FTSE RAFI U.S. Equity Income0.00%0.00%3.37
DJDGuggenheim Dow Jones Industrial Average Dividend0.00%0.00%2.35
JPEUJPMorgan Diversified Return Europe Equity0.00%0.00%9.61
HEMViShares Currency Hedged MSCI EM Minimum Volatility0.00%0.00%2.21
UDBILegg Mason US Diversified Core0.00%0.00%2.21

Bottom 10 YTD Performers

TickerNameYTD PerformanceWeekly PerformanceAUM ($, mm)
IMOMMomentumShares International Quantitative Momentum0.00%0.00%7.07
SPYXSPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free0.00%0.00%56.79
HDRWWisdomTree Global Ex-U.S. Hedged Real Estate0.00%0.00%2.20
DDBILegg Mason Developed EX-US Diversified Core0.00%0.00%2.20
EZRWisdomTree Europe Local Recovery0.00%0.00%3.37
ELKUElkhorn FTSE RAFI U.S. Equity Income0.00%0.00%3.37
DJDGuggenheim Dow Jones Industrial Average Dividend0.00%0.00%2.35
JPEUJPMorgan Diversified Return Europe Equity0.00%0.00%9.61
HEMViShares Currency Hedged MSCI EM Minimum Volatility0.00%0.00%2.21
UDBILegg Mason US Diversified Core0.00%0.00%2.21

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.

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