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.
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 $566 million in the week. However, no single commodity ETF made the top 10 inflows list.
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
SPY | SPDR S&P 500 | 1,856.90 | 169,651.72 | 1.11% |
IWM | iShares Russell 2000 | 1,366.07 | 24,322.32 | 5.95% |
HYG | iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond | 1,289.07 | 13,628.54 | 10.45% |
JNK | SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond | 875.59 | 9,237.93 | 10.47% |
SHV | iShares Short Treasury Bond | 705.64 | 5,766.60 | 13.94% |
EWJ | iShares MSCI Japan | 666.07 | 18,835.99 | 3.67% |
LQD | iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond | 443.44 | 23,797.11 | 1.90% |
IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 | 400.87 | 64,819.22 | 0.62% |
EZU | iShares MSCI Eurozone | 367.60 | 13,852.78 | 2.73% |
VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 | 315.43 | 38,965.76 | 0.82% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
IWF | iShares Russell 1000 Growth | -630.93 | 27,735.39 | -2.22% |
DIA | SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average Trust | -425.58 | 11,326.02 | -3.62% |
MDY | SPDR S&P MidCap 400 | -413.46 | 13,252.79 | -3.03% |
IWD | iShares Russell 1000 Value | -375.89 | 23,813.21 | -1.55% |
EEM | iShares MSCI Emerging Markets | -352.84 | 17,690.40 | -1.96% |
IWR | iShares Russell Mid-Cap | -331.10 | 11,280.39 | -2.85% |
XLF | Financial Select SPDR | -297.19 | 16,016.62 | -1.82% |
IWB | iShares Russell 1000 | -257.05 | 13,437.98 | -1.88% |
DXJ | WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity | -236.55 | 12,391.91 | -1.87% |
XLY | Consumer Discretionary Select SPDR | -235.28 | 10,033.77 | -2.29% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | 195.74 | 1,086,254.02 | 0.02% |
International Equity | 153.49 | 437,050.00 | 0.04% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 5,663.53 | 340,086.97 | 1.67% |
International Fixed Income | 42.95 | 27,735.82 | 0.15% |
Commodities | 566.23 | 48,059.62 | 1.18% |
Currency | 59.34 | 1,424.76 | 4.16% |
Leveraged | -80.32 | 20,646.41 | -0.39% |
Inverse | 11.72 | 19,018.68 | 0.06% |
Asset Allocation | -183.94 | 5,250.53 | -3.50% |
Alternatives | 194.31 | 3,023.20 | 6.43% |
Total: | 6,623.06 | 1,988,550.01 | 0.33% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
NFO | Guggenheim Insider Sentiment | 16,133 | 52,985 | 328.43% |
CRBN | iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target | 9,094 | 30,864 | 339.37% |
FHK | First Trust Hong Kong AlphaDEX | 26,799 | 76,684 | 286.14% |
DBKO | Deutsche X-trackers MSCI South Korea Hedged Equity ETF | 78,392 | 279,386 | 356.40% |
MLPC | C-Tracks Miller/Howard MLP Fundamental ETN | 87,216 | 390,912 | 448.21% |
SCHP | Schwab U.S. TIPS | 143,066 | 376,587 | 263.23% |
FBG | UBS AG FI Enhanced Big Cap Growth ETN | 12,916 | 15,482 | 119.86% |
DSI | iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social | 54,683 | 70,951 | 129.75% |
SPHB | PowerShares S&P 500 High Beta | 77,946 | 83,246 | 106.80% |
EWO | iShares MSCI Austria Capped | 84,347 | 159,382 | 188.96% |
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
XLP | Consumer Staples Select SPDR | 0.00% | 57,395,490 | 8,626.16 |
XLF | Financial Select SPDR | 0.00% | 227,047,298 | 16,016.62 |
SPYX | SPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free | 0.00% | 24,893 | 56.79 |
XLU | Utilities Select SPDR | 0.00% | 53,773,563 | 6,507.06 |
ETHO | Etho Climate Leadership U.S. | 0.00% | 5,465 | 2.23 |
IMOM | MomentumShares International Quantitative Momentum | 0.00% | 28,243 | 7.07 |
EZR | WisdomTree Europe Local Recovery | 0.00% | 3,700 | 3.37 |
XITK | SPDR FactSet Innovative Technology | 0.00% | 2,691 | 4.83 |
BITE | Restaurant | 0.00% | 4,326 | 2.36 |
XLY | Consumer Discretionary Select SPDR | 0.00% | 32,926,144 | 10,033.77 |
Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
XLP | Consumer Staples Select SPDR | 0.00% | 57,395,490 | 8,626.16 |
XLF | Financial Select SPDR | 0.00% | 227,047,298 | 16,016.62 |
SPYX | SPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free | 0.00% | 24,893 | 56.79 |
XLU | Utilities Select SPDR | 0.00% | 53,773,563 | 6,507.06 |
ETHO | Etho Climate Leadership U.S. | 0.00% | 5,465 | 2.23 |
IMOM | MomentumShares International Quantitative Momentum | 0.00% | 28,243 | 7.07 |
EZR | WisdomTree Europe Local Recovery | 0.00% | 3,700 | 3.37 |
XITK | SPDR FactSet Innovative Technology | 0.00% | 2,691 | 4.83 |
BITE | Restaurant | 0.00% | 4,326 | 2.36 |
XLY | Consumer Discretionary Select SPDR | 0.00% | 32,926,144 | 10,033.77 |
Top 10 YTD Performers
Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
IMOM | MomentumShares International Quantitative Momentum | 0.00% | 0.00% | 7.07 |
SPYX | SPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free | 0.00% | 0.00% | 56.79 |
HDRW | WisdomTree Global Ex-U.S. Hedged Real Estate | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.20 |
DDBI | Legg Mason Developed EX-US Diversified Core | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.20 |
EZR | WisdomTree Europe Local Recovery | 0.00% | 0.00% | 3.37 |
ELKU | Elkhorn FTSE RAFI U.S. Equity Income | 0.00% | 0.00% | 3.37 |
DJD | Guggenheim Dow Jones Industrial Average Dividend | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.35 |
JPEU | JPMorgan Diversified Return Europe Equity | 0.00% | 0.00% | 9.61 |
HEMV | iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EM Minimum Volatility | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.21 |
UDBI | Legg Mason US Diversified Core | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.21 |
Bottom 10 YTD Performers
Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
IMOM | MomentumShares International Quantitative Momentum | 0.00% | 0.00% | 7.07 |
SPYX | SPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free | 0.00% | 0.00% | 56.79 |
HDRW | WisdomTree Global Ex-U.S. Hedged Real Estate | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.20 |
DDBI | Legg Mason Developed EX-US Diversified Core | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.20 |
EZR | WisdomTree Europe Local Recovery | 0.00% | 0.00% | 3.37 |
ELKU | Elkhorn FTSE RAFI U.S. Equity Income | 0.00% | 0.00% | 3.37 |
DJD | Guggenheim Dow Jones Industrial Average Dividend | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.35 |
JPEU | JPMorgan Diversified Return Europe Equity | 0.00% | 0.00% | 9.61 |
HEMV | iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EM Minimum Volatility | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.21 |
UDBI | Legg Mason US Diversified Core | 0.00% | 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.