Investors Shrug Off Vol, Add $16B To ETFs
Stock market volatility may be spooking mutual funds investors, but the same can’t be said about ETF investors.
Economic concerns may be growing and stocks may be getting walloped, but that hasn’t concerned ETF investors—yet. According to the latest data from FactSet, a sizable $16.2 billion flowed into U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, Dec. 13, with inflows seen in asset classes across the board.
That’s in sharp contrast to data released by the likes of Lipper, which showed record outflows from equity mutual funds. More than $45 billion came out of equity mutual funds during the week ending Wednesday, Dec. 12, according to the analytics firm.
Bolstered by this week’s fresh cash, ETF inflows for 2018 as a whole ticked up to $278 billion.
Equity Winners
Of this week’s ETF inflows, $8.5 billion went into U.S. equity exchange-traded funds. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) and the iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD) were a few names in that category to garner inflows.
Meanwhile, international equity ETFs also saw interest, picking up $5 billion of new money. The Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA), the iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF (ACWX) and the iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI) were winners in that space.
ETF investors shrugged off continued volatility in global stock markets. Aside from the ongoing trade and Brexit sagas, economic data has weakened significantly in China and Europe, giving investors another aspect to worry about.
Treasury Yields Drop
That worry has led investors to hedge their equity bets with fixed income. U.S. fixed-income ETFs picked up $2.8 billion during the week, though the largest share of that went into the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK), a decidedly unsafe bond ETF.
JNK’s $880 million of inflows were followed by the $674 million that went into the iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY) and the $506 million that went into the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG).
During the week, the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond yield briefly dipped to 2.82%, close to a four-month low.
For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | 1,420.72 | 253,549.99 | 0.56% |
VEA | Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF | 1,115.58 | 66,905.09 | 1.67% |
JNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF | 880.38 | 8,128.82 | 10.83% |
XLV | Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund | 876.54 | 20,447.63 | 4.29% |
IWD | iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF | 873.52 | 38,623.45 | 2.26% |
XLK | Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund | 738.51 | 19,195.25 | 3.85% |
ACWX | iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF | 684.44 | 4,255.30 | 16.08% |
SHY | iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 673.95 | 17,826.61 | 3.78% |
ACWI | iShares MSCI ACWI ETF | 540.80 | 9,922.83 | 5.45% |
AGG | iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | 506.00 | 55,073.89 | 0.92% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | -1,275.35 | 155,170.54 | -0.82% |
HYG | iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -1,185.27 | 12,895.86 | -9.19% |
XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -771.38 | 25,521.85 | -3.02% |
FLOT | iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF | -454.56 | 11,734.62 | -3.87% |
SRLN | SPDR Blackstone / GSO Senior Loan ETF | -421.04 | 2,723.94 | -15.46% |
FLRN | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Investment Grade Floating Rate ETF | -338.20 | 4,297.58 | -7.87% |
TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | -331.92 | 7,406.48 | -4.48% |
MDY | SPDR S&P Midcap 400 ETF Trust | -331.67 | 17,907.40 | -1.85% |
XLU | Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund | -327.26 | 8,422.86 | -3.89% |
IJH | iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF | -278.90 | 44,925.05 | -0.62% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | 8,523.89 | 2,001,349.45 | 0.43% |
International Equity | 5,011.62 | 752,119.33 | 0.67% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 2,831.12 | 577,219.98 | 0.49% |
International Fixed Income | -395.36 | 66,432.42 | -0.60% |
Commodities | 314.49 | 60,831.59 | 0.52% |
Currency | -6.22 | 1,754.39 | -0.35% |
Leveraged | -279.68 | 33,720.49 | -0.83% |
Inverse | -33.08 | 11,869.00 | -0.28% |
Asset Allocation | 215.07 | 9,167.52 | 2.35% |
Alternatives | -27.51 | 4,945.69 | -0.56% |
Total: | 16,154.34 | 3,519,409.86 | 0.46% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | 123,827.94 | 2,001,349.45 | 6.19% |
International Equity | 59,963.13 | 752,119.33 | 7.97% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 73,302.27 | 577,219.98 | 12.70% |
International Fixed Income | 11,214.97 | 66,432.42 | 16.88% |
Commodities | -449.35 | 60,831.59 | -0.74% |
Currency | -113.09 | 1,754.39 | -6.45% |
Leveraged | 6,743.48 | 33,720.49 | 20.00% |
Inverse | 2,138.24 | 11,869.00 | 18.02% |
Asset Allocation | 993.82 | 9,167.52 | 10.84% |
Alternatives | 392.09 | 4,945.69 | 7.93% |
Total: | 278,013.50 | 3,519,409.86 | 7.90% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
DIVC | C-Tracks ETN - Miller/Howard Strategic Dividend Reinvestor | 6 | 43 | 675.00% |
FPEI | First Trust Institutional Preferred Securities and Income ETF | 53,090 | 165,793 | 312.28% |
INCO | Columbia India Consumer ETF | 14,419 | 39,361 | 272.98% |
SIZE | iShares Edge MSCI U.S.A. Size Factor ETF | 20,876 | 56,161 | 269.02% |
EMQQ | Emerging Markets Internet & Ecommerce ETF | 151,400 | 389,530 | 257.28% |
PXLV | Invesco Russell Top 200 Pure Value ETF | 15,804 | 40,245 | 254.66% |
CDL | VictoryShares US Large Cap High Div Volatility Wtd Index ETF | 36,916 | 84,515 | 228.94% |
JPMF | JPMorgan Managed Futures Strategy ETF | 2,035 | 6,193 | 304.26% |
SMLF | iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor U.S.A. Small-Cap ETF | 83,826 | 195,228 | 232.90% |
PBJ | Invesco Dynamic Food & Beverage ETF | 9,345 | 19,691 | 210.71% |
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.