Investors Pour Money Into ETFs as Tariff Shock Roils Markets
Despite a 3% selloff in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, investors poured $11.7 billion into ETFs last week.
U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds saw $11.7 billion in net positive ETF flows in the week ending March 7, as investors kept putting money to work despite a steep stock market decline.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 fell more than 3% last week after Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China went into effect, catching many off guard. While some tariffs have been postponed for a month, more are set to take effect in April, raising uncertainty for businesses and investors alike.
ETF Flows Positive
Even with rising recession fears, ETF flows remain positive, pushing year-to-date inflows to $221.2 billion. Investors showed confidence, adding $2 billion to U.S. equity ETFs, while leveraged funds pulled in nearly $2.8 billion, suggesting some traders saw the selloff as a buying opportunity.
Fixed-income ETFs saw $6.3 billion in inflows— though most bond funds posted negative returns as Treasury yields ticked slightly higher, despite growing expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut rates later this year.
VOO Leads Inflows
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) led all ETFs with $4 billion in inflows, as investors took advantage of the market pullback. The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) followed with $1.4 billion, reinforcing the trend of steady buying in broad equity funds.
Meanwhile, the ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) and Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares (SOXL) each pulled in over $1.3 billion, showing that some investors were willing to make aggressive bets on a market rebound.
The SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) and the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) registered the biggest fixed-income flows winners of the week, with inflows of $1.2 billion apiece.
That contrasted with the $1.5 billion that came out of the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT).
Other flows losers included the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which saw $3.9 billion in redemptions, and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which lost $2.7 billion, mirroring the tech sector’s struggles last week.
Buy the Dip or Get Defensive?
ETF flows suggest that while last week’s tariff-driven selloff rattled markets, many investors still view stocks as attractive.
However, with tariff uncertainty and recession risks elevated, markets remain fragile. The next few weeks will be key in determining whether investors keep buying the dip—or start positioning more defensively.
For a full list of the top inflows and outflows from last week, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change< |
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 3,979.59 | 602,058.31 | 0.66 |
| VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 1,413.45 | 451,542.54 | 0.31 |
| TQQQ | ProShares UltraPro QQQ | 1,365.38 | 20,986.21 | 6.51 |
| SOXL | Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares | 1,357.89 | 7,604.66 | 17.86 |
| BIL | SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF | 1,219.94 | 39,315.29 | 3.10 |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | 1,166.38 | 31,297.72 | 3.73 |
| RSP | Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF | 1,118.18 | 74,018.79 | 1.51 |
| CGDV | Capital Group Dividend Value ETF | 1,055.30 | 15,006.14 | 7.03 |
| SGOV | iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF | 1,023.09 | 36,661.09 | 2.79 |
| VCIT | Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF | 776.96 | 50,193.00 | 1.55 |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -3,874.37 | 607,590.77 | -0.64 |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust Series I | -2,666.48 | 308,362.91 | -0.86 |
| EFG | iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF | -2,653.08 | 13,633.36 | -19.46 |
| TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | -1,499.30 | 50,651.03 | -2.96 |
| XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -968.54 | 51,215.47 | -1.89 |
| GLD | SPDR Gold Shares | -933.67 | 83,993.65 | -1.11 |
| EFV | iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF | -834.48 | 20,882.13 | -4.00 |
| SSO | ProShares Ultra S&P 500 | -798.36 | 4,786.09 | -16.68 |
| XLK | Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund | -796.08 | 66,920.24 | -1.19 |
| IWY | iShares Russell Top 200 Growth ETF | -738.53 | 12,476.84 | -5.92 |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| Alternatives | -520.42 | 9,395.42 | -5.54% |
| Asset Allocation | 178.85 | 23,143.01 | 0.77% |
| Commodities ETFs | -5.14 | 182,442.00 | 0.00% |
| Currency | -423.26 | 113,341.37 | -0.37% |
| International Equity | 146.87 | 1,647,881.30 | 0.01% |
| International Fixed Income | 1,707.60 | 278,376.22 | 0.61% |
| Inverse | -424.75 | 12,862.20 | -3.30% |
| Leveraged | 2,822.88 | 114,687.65 | 2.46% |
| US Equity | 2,008.09 | 6,536,782.77 | 0.03% |
| US Fixed Income | 6,258.61 | 1,621,204.47 | 0.39% |
| Total: | 11,749.34 | 10,540,116.41 | 0.11% |
Disclaimer: All data as of 6 a.m. ET the date the article is published. Data are believed to be accurate; however, transient market data are often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges.
