Low Vol ETFs Power Weekly Inflows
Investors added $5.5 billion to U.S.-listed ETFs this week.
A sense of worry lingered over financial markets this week as investors grappled with issues related to trade, interest rates and Brexit. But even though the S&P 500 sold off a few percentage points during the period, investors were confident enough in the long-term outlook to add money to ETFs.
In total, a net $5.5 billion of new money entered U.S.-listed ETFs, including $4.1 billion in U.S. equity ETFs and $1.9 billion in international equity ETFs.
Low Cost, Low Vol
The focus was on low cost and low volatility. Cheap funds like the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT) netted assets during the week.
So too did low-vol products, such as the Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF (SPLV) and the iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol U.S.A. ETF (USMV), both of which made the top 10 inflows list.
Another safety play, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU), also garnered interest.
On the other hand, sticking out like a sore thumb was the VelocityShares 3X Inverse Natural Gas ETN (DGAZ). The ETN, which allows traders to make bearish, leveraged wagers on natural gas prices, was pummeled this week as natural gas prices soared. DGAZ dropped 56% on Wednesday alone, but despite the free-fall, attracted inflows of $417 million this week.
Corporates Out Of Favor
On the other side of the ledger, fixed-income ETFs fell out of favor this week amid worries about the ability of corporate borrowers to repay their debts should the economy slow next year.
The iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG), the iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) saw some of the largest outflows during the period.
U.S. fixed-income ETFs as a whole registered net outflows of $1.7 billion on the week, while the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield dropped from 3.19% to 3.07%.
For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 1,345.16 | 158,368.55 | 0.85% |
FXH | First Trust Health Care AlphaDEX Fund | 738.06 | 2,173.28 | 33.96% |
SPLV | Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF | 698.64 | 8,569.84 | 8.15% |
XLU | Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund | 536.41 | 8,274.44 | 6.48% |
IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | 477.05 | 43,995.81 | 1.08% |
VT | Vanguard Total World Stock ETF | 462.37 | 11,831.25 | 3.91% |
DGAZ | VelocityShares 3X Inverse Natural Gas ETN | 417.15 | 341.62 | 122.11% |
USMV | iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol U.S.A. ETF | 408.05 | 17,895.91 | 2.28% |
VEA | Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF | 395.44 | 66,898.07 | 0.59% |
VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 372.60 | 99,859.92 | 0.37% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
HYG | iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -1,802.08 | 13,313.20 | -13.54% |
SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -832.01 | 256,514.56 | -0.32% |
FXR | First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX Fund | -738.67 | 512.58 | -144.11% |
QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | -645.99 | 64,767.16 | -1.00% |
XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -631.69 | 28,621.99 | -2.21% |
LQD | iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | -605.27 | 30,946.98 | -1.96% |
XLI | Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -348.27 | 11,654.99 | -2.99% |
XBI | SPDR S&P BIOTECH ETF | -336.01 | 3,937.62 | -8.53% |
JNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF | -328.57 | 8,004.61 | -4.10% |
SHV | iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF | -286.74 | 15,599.69 | -1.84% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | 4,112.61 | 2,019,472.53 | 0.20% |
International Equity | 1,888.26 | 746,600.58 | 0.25% |
U.S. Fixed Income | -1,702.44 | 565,255.27 | -0.30% |
International Fixed Income | 270.78 | 66,221.85 | 0.41% |
Commodities | 186.46 | 59,677.67 | 0.31% |
Currency | -15.59 | 1,110.99 | -1.40% |
Leveraged | 318.98 | 35,032.97 | 0.91% |
Inverse | 456.39 | 13,115.57 | 3.48% |
Asset Allocation | 14.97 | 9,011.57 | 0.17% |
Alternatives | -55.19 | 4,796.61 | -1.15% |
Total: | 5,475.23 | 3,520,295.61 | 0.16% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | 103,827.72 | 2,019,472.53 | 5.14% |
International Equity | 46,015.39 | 746,600.58 | 6.16% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 62,540.82 | 565,255.27 | 11.06% |
International Fixed Income | 11,084.52 | 66,221.85 | 16.74% |
Commodities | -322.80 | 59,677.67 | -0.54% |
Currency | -55.05 | 1,110.99 | -4.96% |
Leveraged | 6,950.06 | 35,032.97 | 19.84% |
Inverse | 2,303.12 | 13,115.57 | 17.56% |
Asset Allocation | 700.34 | 9,011.57 | 7.77% |
Alternatives | 278.81 | 4,796.61 | 5.81% |
Total: | 233,322.93 | 3,520,295.61 | 6.63% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
IXG | iShares Global Financials ETF | 135,843 | 704,292 | 518.46% |
NORW | Global X MSCI Norway ETF | 204,250 | 1,114,965 | 545.88% |
PAVE | Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF | 118,876 | 562,041 | 472.79% |
XNTK | SPDR NYSE Technology ETF | 77,912 | 317,207 | 407.14% |
FXB | Invesco CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling Trust | 111,471 | 423,897 | 380.28% |
JPN | Xtrackers Japan JPX-Nikkei 400 Equity ETF | 272,238 | 812,416 | 298.42% |
SMB | VanEck Vectors AMT-Free Short Municipal Index ETF | 58,237 | 164,228 | 282.00% |
PUI | Invesco DWA Utilities Momentum ETF | 18,753 | 49,075 | 261.69% |
HYDW | Xtrackers Low Beta High Yield Bond ETF | 1,136 | 2,901 | 255.34% |
MVV | ProShares Ultra MidCap400 | 86,325 | 214,704 | 248.72% |
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.