Marijuana ETF 'MJX' Powers Strong Weekly Inflows
ETFs continued their winning ways during the first week of 2018.
After registering record inflows last year, ETFs began 2018 on a strong note. According to FactSet, U.S.-listed ETFs took in $5.3 billion during the week ending Thursday, Jan. 4, a span that includes one trading session from 2017 and three trading sessions from 2018 (Monday was a holiday).
If 2018 inflows are to come anywhere close to last year's scorching $476.1 billion, investors have to keep plowing money into ETFs at a blistering pace. So far so good.
Unlike last year, U.S. equity ETFs weren't the most popular asset class among ETF investors during the first week of 2018. Only $139 million went into ETFs of that category, despite a strong opening week for the S&P 500. The venerable index rallied in each of its first four trading sessions of 2018, and was already up 2.6% year-to-date as of Friday.
It was U.S. fixed-income ETFs and international equity ETFs that took in the most money—$2.9 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively. International fixed-income ETFs also fared well, gathering $871 million during the week.
IVV On Top, But MJX Shines Bright
In terms of individual ETFs, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) took the top spot during the period, with inflows of $1.1 billion. It also was the biggest flows winner of last year, when it took in $30.2 billion.
Ironically, the most-talked-about ETF that took in substantial flows this week isn't even on the top 10 list for the period. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJX) became the first U.S.-listed marijuana ETF on the market, on Dec. 26, and immediately gained traction with investors.
In the past week, the fund had inflows of $229 million, catapulting its assets under management from $6 million to $273 million. The fund has also performed well, rising 20% since its debut, and nearly 12% in the past week.
Wild Ride For UGAZ
On the outflows side, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) took the No. 1 spot, with redemptions of $3.2 billion.
Another notable loser was the VelocityShares 3X Long Natural Gas ETN (UGAZ), with outflows of more than $300 million. The ETN had a wild ride recently, rising 56% between Dec. 21 and Jan. 2, before plunging by 23% over the next three days.
Natural gas prices haven't been able to get much traction despite record-breaking cold across much of the U.S.
For a full list of this week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 1,072.24 | 144,643.41 | 0.75% |
| AGG | iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | 861.73 | 53,629.38 | 1.63% |
| XLI | Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund | 817.47 | 13,505.41 | 6.44% |
| JNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF | 807.88 | 13,340.22 | 6.45% |
| EMB | iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF | 624.46 | 12,782.44 | 5.14% |
| XLE | Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund | 623.11 | 19,306.34 | 3.34% |
| XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | 523.08 | 33,362.98 | 1.59% |
| MDY | SPDR S&P Midcap 400 ETF Trust | 434.76 | 21,105.90 | 2.10% |
| TIP | iShares TIPS Bond ETF | 387.18 | 24,338.67 | 1.62% |
| XLY | Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund | 370.02 | 13,452.19 | 2.83% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -3,207.51 | 272,675.55 | -1.16% |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | -1,684.84 | 42,165.79 | -3.84% |
| QQQ | PowerShares QQQ Trust | -1,082.70 | 58,763.46 | -1.81% |
| XLP | Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund | -655.96 | 8,726.43 | -6.99% |
| CIU | iShares Intermediate Credit Bond ETF | -536.76 | 7,658.99 | -6.55% |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | -494.77 | 38,430.92 | -1.27% |
| XLU | Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund | -322.78 | 7,065.54 | -4.37% |
| XIV | VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN | -305.33 | 1,142.96 | -21.08% |
| UGAZ | VelocityShares 3X Long Natural Gas ETN | -300.83 | 864.05 | -25.82% |
| IJR | iShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF | -277.41 | 36,269.02 | -0.76% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 138.89 | 1,942,812.62 | 0.01% |
| International Equity | 2,529.97 | 814,474.49 | 0.31% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 2,948.46 | 525,990.26 | 0.56% |
| International Fixed Income | 871.27 | 59,565.88 | 1.46% |
| Commodities | -213.23 | 67,683.16 | -0.32% |
| Currency | -7.41 | 1,244.46 | -0.60% |
| Leveraged | -643.58 | 34,689.62 | -1.86% |
| Inverse | -327.22 | 14,810.43 | -2.21% |
| Asset Allocation | 50.96 | 8,980.49 | 0.57% |
| Alternatives | -25.65 | 4,126.95 | -0.62% |
| Total: | 5,322.48 | 3,474,378.37 | 0.15% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
| QXTR | QuantX Risk Managed Multi-Asset Total Return ETF | 5,562 | 36,473 | 655.79% |
| DBP | PowerShares DB Precious Metals Fund | 45,411 | 226,526 | 498.84% |
| MJX | ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF | 531,200 | 4,151,537 | 781.54% |
| PSC | Principal U.S. Small-Cap Multi-Factor Index ETF | 325 | 1,548 | 475.50% |
| EXT | WisdomTree U.S. Total Earnings Fund | 7,756 | 36,493 | 470.52% |
| CACG | ClearBridge All Cap Growth ETF | 24,924 | 97,601 | 391.60% |
| HUSE | US Market Rotation Strategy ETF | 16,238 | 64,140 | 395.01% |
| HYZD | WisdomTree Interest Rate Hedged High Yield Bond Fund | 55,431 | 165,607 | 298.76% |
| LVHI | Legg Mason International Low Volatility High Dividend ETF | 5,058 | 13,838 | 273.57% |
| IDX | VanEck Vectors Indonesia Index ETF | 25,996 | 93,271 | 358.79% |
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.
