Largest Weekly ETF Outflows Since March
Reversal of the Russell reconstitution trade and trade war jitters led to hefty outflows from U.S.-listed ETFs.
A reversal of the “Russell reconstitution trade” led to steep outflows from ETFs this week. According to FactSet, U.S.-listed ETFs registered net outflows of $21.6 billion during the week ending Thursday, June 28.
It was the largest weekly outflow since a $24.1 billion outflow in late-March, and pushed year-to-date ETF inflows down to $129.4 billion.
In a mirror image of last week, a host of iShares Russell ETFs had large outflows―potentially a reflection of investors closing out sophisticated trades linked to the annual Russell reconstitution. Seven of the 10 ETFs with the biggest outflows this week track Russell indices.
But it wasn't just the Russell trade. Even without that, U.S.-listed ETFs were on pace for outflows this week as increasing trade tensions left investors feeling jittery. The S&P 500 briefly fell below 2,700 for the first time in a month this week, and the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield hit a one-month low of 2.83%.
Indeed, the buying in bonds (bond prices and yields move inversely) was one of the few bright spots in this week's flows report. U.S. fixed-income ETFs had net inflows of $3.8 billion during the period, and the five ETFs with the largest inflows were all fixed-income funds.
Those included the iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD), the Vanguard Mortgage-Backed Securities ETF (VMBS), the iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT), the Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF (BSV) and the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG).
For a full list of this week's top inflows and outflows, see the table below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | 1,220.75 | 32,971.40 | 3.84% |
| VMBS | Vanguard Mortgage-Backed Securities ETF | 759.38 | 6,692.31 | 12.80% |
| GOVT | iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF | 754.39 | 6,533.89 | 13.05% |
| BSV | Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF | 734.03 | 25,527.43 | 2.96% |
| AGG | iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | 402.61 | 55,312.26 | 0.73% |
| XLP | Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund | 400.37 | 8,494.56 | 4.95% |
| SMH | VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF | 333.25 | 1,388.37 | 31.58% |
| IJH | iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF | 271.53 | 46,931.87 | 0.58% |
| VV | Vanguard Large-Cap ETF | 258.29 | 12,680.22 | 2.08% |
| SHV | iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF | 253.82 | 14,903.03 | 1.73% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -5,009.66 | 257,359.43 | -1.91% |
| IWF | iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF | -4,359.72 | 41,858.28 | -9.43% |
| IWD | iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF | -2,523.40 | 35,912.45 | -6.57% |
| IWP | iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF | -1,700.83 | 8,821.74 | -16.16% |
| IWN | iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF | -1,573.30 | 10,507.75 | -13.02% |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | -1,335.01 | 46,904.79 | -2.77% |
| IWS | iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF | -1,225.16 | 10,777.83 | -10.21% |
| EEM | iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF | -1,045.39 | 30,474.33 | -3.32% |
| IWO | iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF | -884.81 | 10,911.53 | -7.50% |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | -829.88 | 65,252.00 | -1.26% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | -21,176.79 | 1,986,143.77 | -1.07% |
| International Equity | -3,947.66 | 784,421.91 | -0.50% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 3,766.29 | 552,276.73 | 0.68% |
| International Fixed Income | -13.84 | 61,917.84 | -0.02% |
| Commodities | -470.75 | 66,135.80 | -0.71% |
| Currency | 6.24 | 1,210.77 | 0.52% |
| Leveraged | 378.51 | 34,484.80 | 1.10% |
| Inverse | -69.81 | 13,262.07 | -0.53% |
| Asset Allocation | -11.18 | 9,206.77 | -0.12% |
| Alternatives | -48.60 | 4,415.38 | -1.10% |
| Total: | -21,587.61 | 3,513,475.84 | -0.61% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
| MLPO | Credit Suisse S&P MLP Index ETN | 3 | 17 | 648.68% |
| RBIN | Nationwide Risk-Based International Equity ETF | 8 | 25 | 326.58% |
| DBO | Invesco DB Oil Fund | 1,622,877 | 5,099,511 | 314.23% |
| SLQD | iShares 0-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | 276,129 | 1,305,067 | 472.63% |
| VRP | Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF | 428,965 | 1,380,417 | 321.80% |
| ICVT | iShares Convertible Bond ETF | 94,735 | 518,174 | 546.97% |
| CMBS | iShares CMBS ETF | 37,529 | 170,973 | 455.57% |
| ADRE | Invesco BLDRS Emerging Markets 50 ADR Index Fund | 15,697 | 63,749 | 406.11% |
| IHDG | WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Fund | 143,201 | 706,458 | 493.33% |
| SPTL | SPDR Portfolio Long Term Treasury ETF | 230,581 | 590,683 | 256.17% |
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.
