Huge Weekly Inflows For Corporate Bond ETF
U.S.-listed ETFs registered modest outflows this week, but 'LQD' pulled in more than $5 billion.
It was another volatile week on Wall Street, as the S&P 500 sagged to a three-year low on Monday before rocketing up by 17.6% over the next three sessions, the best three-day stretch since the 1930s.
Yet, overall ETF flows didn't reflect all that activity. On net, a mere $2.8 billion flowed out of U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, March 26. That puts year-to-date inflows at $66.8 billion, still ahead of last year's $48.1 billion pace.
Huge Inflow For 'LQD'
While headline flows figures were rather tepid, individual ETFs saw a flurry of activity. The iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) had $5.2 billion of inflows this week, a sizable haul for the $35 billion fund. On Monday, the Federal Reserve announced a new facility that would purchase investment-grade corporate bond ETFs to help thaw strained credit markets.
Meanwhile, though the Fed won't be purchasing them, junk bond ETFs like the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) and the iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) also saw interest from investors this week.
So too did the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), which bounced back more than 10% from its lows of last week. Gold prices were last trading around $1,620/oz.
'AGG' & 'MINT' Shunned
On the outflows side, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) and the PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ETF (MINT) were the biggest flows losers of the period.
MINT stunned investors last week after the fund tumbled nearly 5% from its highs. Such a move was unexpected for a fund that seeks to be a money market alternative.
For a full list of this week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | 5,215.13 | 34,519.54 | 15.11% |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | 2,591.71 | 81,439.18 | 3.18% |
| GLD | SPDR Gold Trust | 1,588.11 | 49,205.58 | 3.23% |
| BIL | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF | 1,479.61 | 18,048.81 | 8.20% |
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 1,415.29 | 112,895.51 | 1.25% |
| SHY | iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 1,348.40 | 24,399.40 | 5.53% |
| JNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF | 1,086.89 | 6,687.37 | 16.25% |
| HYG | iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | 1,063.17 | 14,369.70 | 7.40% |
| XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | 877.17 | 14,959.29 | 5.86% |
| IVW | iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF | 803.92 | 20,581.73 | 3.91% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | -3,517.57 | 154,382.91 | -2.28% |
| AGG | iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | -2,529.03 | 66,947.57 | -3.78% |
| MINT | PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ETF | -1,198.47 | 11,850.83 | -10.11% |
| JPST | JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETF | -993.25 | 9,328.88 | -10.65% |
| BBEU | JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF | -902.51 | 2,007.57 | -44.96% |
| VXX | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN | -841.64 | 1,136.27 | -74.07% |
| BIV | Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF | -794.00 | 11,717.69 | -6.78% |
| VWO | Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF | -731.51 | 49,260.09 | -1.49% |
| VNQ | Vanguard Real Estate ETF | -704.57 | 25,286.60 | -2.79% |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -702.26 | 229,924.06 | -0.31% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | -261.71 | 1,912,337.92 | -0.01% |
| International Equity | -2,556.91 | 663,647.67 | -0.39% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | -2,676.19 | 752,649.73 | -0.36% |
| International Fixed Income | -1,672.92 | 80,261.64 | -2.08% |
| Commodities ETFs | 2,670.47 | 88,450.59 | 3.02% |
| Currency | 371.43 | 1,880.46 | 19.75% |
| Leveraged | 1,075.03 | 26,533.24 | 4.05% |
| Inverse | 1,423.83 | 15,957.75 | 8.92% |
| Asset Allocation | -177.01 | 8,196.77 | -2.16% |
| Alternatives | -975.07 | 4,698.16 | -20.75% |
| Total: | -2,779.05 | 3,554,613.93 | -0.08% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 37,530.40 | 1,912,337.92 | 1.96% |
| International Equity | 1,677.52 | 663,647.67 | 0.25% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 13,020.17 | 752,649.73 | 1.73% |
| International Fixed Income | -1,773.94 | 80,261.64 | -2.21% |
| Commodities ETFs | 7,886.59 | 88,450.59 | 8.92% |
| Currency | 570.36 | 1,880.46 | 30.33% |
| Leveraged | 7,533.29 | 26,533.24 | 28.39% |
| Inverse | 1,779.27 | 15,957.75 | 11.15% |
| Asset Allocation | -65.07 | 8,196.77 | -0.79% |
| Alternatives | -1,386.73 | 4,698.16 | -29.52% |
| Total: | 66,771.86 | 3,554,613.93 | 1.88% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
| TIPX | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-10 Year TIPS ETF | 142,546 | 676,900 | 474.87% |
| ARCM | Arrow Reserve Capital Management ETF | 3,652 | 7,568 | 207.20% |
| DIVC | C-Tracks ETN - Miller/Howard Strategic Dividend Reinvestor | 103 | 281 | 272.76% |
| PBJ | Invesco Dynamic Food & Beverage ETF | 26,096 | 65,491 | 250.96% |
| GIGB | Goldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | 148,834 | 571,129 | 383.74% |
| UEVM | VictoryShares USAA MSCI Emerging Markets Value Momentum ETF | 14,174 | 32,223 | 227.34% |
| HTAB | Hartford Schroders Tax-Aware Bond ETF | 3,536 | 10,988 | 310.72% |
| SPIP | SPDR Portfolio TIPS ETF | 936,311 | 2,637,395 | 281.68% |
| PTH | Invesco DWA Healthcare Momentum ETF | 36,368 | 117,800 | 323.91% |
| GQRE | FlexShares Global Quality Real Estate Index Fund | 48,073 | 169,955 | 353.53% |
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| PALL | Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares ETF | 43.84% | 242,165 | 269.23 |
| GDXJ | VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF | 35.73% | 156,605,334 | 4,015.32 |
| SGDJ | Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF | 33.59% | 369,001 | 39.99 |
| SILJ | ETFMG Prime Junior Silver Miners ETF | 31.85% | 2,995,133 | 109.53 |
| GOEX | Global X Gold Explorers ETF | 31.02% | 176,140 | 33.51 |
| JETS | US Global Jets ETF | 30.66% | 13,344,944 | 285.12 |
| GDX | VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF | 28.03% | 358,886,210 | 11,166.57 |
| GOAU | U.S. Global GO Gold and Precious Metal Miners ETF | 27.83% | 468,749 | 50.11 |
| RING | iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF | 27.22% | 1,582,065 | 318.75 |
| SLVP | iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF | 25.40% | 561,863 | 79.96 |
Top 10 YTD Performers
| Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
| VIIX | VelocityShares Daily Long VIX Short-Term ETN | 206.17% | -17.13% | 64.08 |
| VIXY | ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | 205.31% | -16.83% | 238.79 |
| VXX | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN | 201.72% | -15.94% | 1,136.27 |
| XVZ | iPath S&P 500 Dynamic VIX ETN | 87.35% | -15.69% | 4.96 |
| VXZ | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN | 74.23% | -10.14% | 48.58 |
| VIXM | ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF | 73.23% | -9.91% | 36.68 |
| ZROZ | PIMCO 25+ Year Zero Coupon US Treasury Index ETF | 29.69% | 5.52% | 350.71 |
| EDV | Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury ETF | 27.53% | 5.80% | 1,439.50 |
| TAIL | Cambria Tail Risk ETF | 21.58% | -2.50% | 116.58 |
| PALL | Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares ETF | 21.14% | 43.84% | 269.23 |
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.
