Interest Rate Angst Sparks Weekly Outflows

U.S.-listed ETFs had their second-straight week of outflows.

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Senior ETF Analyst
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Reviewed by: Sumit Roy
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Edited by: Sumit Roy

Concerns about falling interest rates sparked a second-straight week of ETF outflows. According to data from FactSet, $1.8 billion flowed out of U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, March 28.

Though U.S. stocks—as measured by the S&P 500—actually edged higher during the week, a sense of angst hung over the markets as interest rates tumbled. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield tumbled as low as 2.34%, the lowest level since late 2017, fueling economic growth worries.

Those jitters spurred investors to pull $4.1 billion out of U.S. equity ETFs, including $2.4 billion from the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), $1.7 billion from the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and $960 million from the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM).

Meanwhile, investors put money to work in U.S. fixed-income ETFs, which had net inflows of $1.7 billion. Winners in that space included the iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD), the iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG), the iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (USHY) and the iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT).

Interestingly, despite liking fixed income as a whole, ETF investors weren’t too interested in long-term Treasury bonds this week. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) had outflows of $486 million during the period.

For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:

 

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

TickerNameNet Flows ($,mm)AUM ($, mm)AUM % Change
IVViShares Core S&P 500 ETF609.11167,735.210.36%
IEFAiShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF589.0960,197.060.98%
LQDiShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF575.7733,603.361.71%
USMViShares Edge MSCI Min Vol U.S.A. ETF472.5924,649.691.92%
HYGiShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF412.8116,039.732.57%
USHYiShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF354.33837.5542.31%
VTIVanguard Total Stock Market ETF309.01108,627.620.28%
GLDSPDR Gold Trust260.7833,014.200.79%
VYMVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF260.7122,943.481.14%
GOVTiShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF256.178,657.642.96%

 

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

TickerNameNet Flows ($,mm)AUM ($, mm)AUM % Change
QQQInvesco QQQ Trust-2,379.8870,029.92-3.40%
SPYSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust-1,702.69260,903.55-0.65%
IWMiShares Russell 2000 ETF-960.1442,738.20-2.25%
XLFFinancial Select Sector SPDR Fund-915.4522,155.08-4.13%
XLEEnergy Select Sector SPDR Fund-516.7613,760.55-3.76%
EWJiShares MSCI Japan ETF-500.5613,630.93-3.67%
TLTiShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF-486.2010,005.36-4.86%
JNKSPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF-482.589,133.75-5.28%
BKLNInvesco Senior Loan ETF-389.275,281.77-7.37%
VNQVanguard Real Estate ETF-295.0033,817.58-0.87%

 

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

 Net Flows ($, mm)AUM ($, mm)% of AUM
U.S. Equity-4,085.242,126,625.60-0.19%
International Equity-47.71812,769.77-0.01%
U.S. Fixed Income1,734.05634,315.420.27%
International Fixed Income235.9074,496.890.32%
Commodities 218.1065,381.600.33%
Currency7.351,467.830.50%
Leveraged-0.4636,758.86-0.00%
Inverse163.8312,091.461.35%
Asset Allocation8.049,386.590.09%
Alternatives-52.604,761.56-1.10%
Total:-1,818.743,778,055.59-0.05%

 

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

 Net Flows ($, mm)AUM ($, mm)% of AUM
U.S. Equity7,454.822,126,625.600.35%
International Equity6,279.66812,769.770.77%
U.S. Fixed Income26,507.93634,315.424.18%
International Fixed Income6,854.6074,496.899.20%
Commodities 156.5065,381.600.24%
Currency-320.401,467.83-21.83%
Leveraged-1,800.9236,758.86-4.90%
Inverse2,956.1512,091.4624.45%
Asset Allocation-575.549,386.59-6.13%
Alternatives614.894,761.5612.91%
Total:48,127.673,778,055.591.27%

 

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

TickerNameAverage Volume
(30 Day)
1 Week Average
Volume
% of Average
ASHXXtrackers MSCI China A Inclusion Equity ETF60,121333,142554.12%
NFOInvesco Insider Sentiment ETF1,7388,366481.34%
JHMHJohn Hancock Multifactor Healthcare ETF23,161104,259450.14%
JHMTJohn Hancock Multifactor Technology ETF16,78477,208460.01%
AGGEIQ Enhanced Core Bond U.S. ETF7,12731,972448.58%
JPHFJPMorgan Diversified Alternatives ETF33,365154,999464.56%
QDYNFlexShares Quality Dividend Dynamic Index Fund2,2498,379372.59%
JHMFJohn Hancock Multifactor Financials ETF15,12854,355359.30%
IVOOVanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 ETF36,771118,768323.00%
CBNDSPDR Bloomberg Barclays Corporate Bond ETF10,50830,371289.03%

 

 

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.

Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com, where he has worked for 13 years. He creates a variety of content for the platform, including news articles, analysis pieces, videos and podcasts.

Before joining etf.com, Sumit was the managing editor and commodities analyst for Hard Assets Investor. In those roles, he was responsible for most of the operations of HAI, a website dedicated to education about commodities investing.

Though he still closely follows the commodities beat, Sumit covers a much broader assortment of topics for etf.com, with a particular focus on stock and bond exchange-traded funds.

He is the host of etf.com’s Talk ETFs, a popular video series that features weekly interviews with thought leaders in the ETF industry. Sumit is also co-host of Exchange Traded Fridays, etf.com’s weekly podcast series.

He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys climbing the city’s steep hills, playing chess and snowboarding in Lake Tahoe.

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