Massive Weekly Outflows For SPY & HYG
U.S.-listed ETFs saw a big net outflow in the week ending Thursday, May 5.
Investors aggressively pulled money out of U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds this week as concerns about the economy and corporate earnings pushed stock markets down to their lowest levels in a month. The S&P 500 briefly fell into the red for the year on Friday.
Net outflows from U.S.-listed ETFs totaled $11.6 billion in the week ending Thursday, May 5, according to FactSet data. The bulk of that money, $11.4 billion, came out of U.S. equity ETFs. But international equity ETFs and U.S. fixed-income ETFs were losers as well, with outflows of $1.2 billion and $589 million, repsectively.
Gold And Bond Inflows
On the other hand, commodity ETFs saw a net inflow of $1.6 billion, largely due to one fund. The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD | A-100) had an inflow of $1.1 billion as investors rushed into the safe-haven yellow metal. The competing iShares Gold Trust (IAU | B-100) also made the top 10 inflows list, with creations of $325 million.
Behind GLD were three safe, investment-grade bond products, which had big inflows of their own as investor fear levels grew. The iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD | A-77) had inflows of $753 million; the iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP | A-99) had inflows of $539 million; and the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG | A-98) had inflows of $476 million.
Massive Outflows From Three ETFs
Meanwhile, as is often the case in a week of big outflows, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY | A-97) led the pack in terms of redemptions. Outflows from the world's largest ETF totaled a whopping $6.7 billion.
That was followed by the PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ | A-66), with outflows of $2.4 billion, and the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG | B-68), with outflows of $2.2 billion.
HYG's huge outflows suggest investors may be cashing in on their junk bond gains after the big rally in the past 2 1/2 months.
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| GLD | SPDR Gold Trust | 1,056.24 | 34,138.95 | 3.19% |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | 753.36 | 29,272.52 | 2.64% |
| TIP | iShares TIPS Bond ETF | 538.89 | 17,877.81 | 3.11% |
| AGG | iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | 475.96 | 36,103.73 | 1.34% |
| EEM | iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF | 418.75 | 25,276.74 | 1.68% |
| IAU | iShares Gold Trust | 325.47 | 8,043.56 | 4.22% |
| IWD | iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF | 286.58 | 26,581.79 | 1.09% |
| IYR | iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF | 253.53 | 4,292.78 | 6.28% |
| VNQ | Vanguard REIT Index Fund | 233.02 | 31,494.02 | 0.75% |
| GDX | VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF | 216.91 | 7,078.91 | 3.16% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -6,737.12 | 178,822.97 | -3.63% |
| QQQ | PowerShares QQQ Trust | -2,449.07 | 34,175.97 | -6.69% |
| HYG | iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -2,208.26 | 15,204.83 | -12.68% |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | -746.29 | 25,301.52 | -2.87% |
| EZU | iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF | -733.87 | 11,477.02 | -6.01% |
| XLI | Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -616.07 | 6,425.82 | -8.75% |
| XLK | Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund | -503.72 | 12,448.38 | -3.89% |
| FXI | iShares China Large-Cap ETF | -456.83 | 3,881.08 | -10.53% |
| SCPB | SPDR Barclays Short Term Corporate Bond ETF | -438.48 | 4,078.94 | -9.71% |
| DIA | SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust | -346.33 | 12,023.98 | -2.80% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | -11,410.25 | 1,203,252.93 | -0.95% |
| International Equity | -1,218.38 | 480,657.09 | -0.25% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | -589.02 | 371,531.08 | -0.16% |
| International Fixed Income | -40.74 | 32,414.66 | -0.13% |
| Commodities | 1,591.78 | 63,936.45 | 2.49% |
| Currency | 47.97 | 1,194.48 | 4.02% |
| Leveraged | -100.74 | 23,833.72 | -0.42% |
| Inverse | 75.64 | 20,237.13 | 0.37% |
| Asset Allocation | -4.87 | 5,715.81 | -0.09% |
| Alternatives | 6.46 | 4,017.82 | 0.16% |
| Total: | -11,642.17 | 2,206,791.16 | -0.53% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
| HOLD | AdvisorShares Sage Core Reserves ETF | 28,699 | 181,251 | 631.57% |
| EBND | SPDR Barclays Emerging Markets Local Bond ETF | 34,061 | 169,539 | 497.75% |
| JPGE | J.P. Morgan Diversified Return Global Equity ETF | 5,514 | 31,490 | 571.04% |
| FXEU | PowerShares Europe Currency Hedged Low Volatility Portfolio | 197,210 | 503,766 | 255.45% |
| JETS | US Global Jets ETF | 35,563 | 82,880 | 233.05% |
| DGS | WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend Fund | 74,386 | 177,909 | 239.17% |
| EFG | iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF | 179,925 | 392,401 | 218.09% |
| DBGR | Deutsche X-trackers MSCI Germany Hedged Equity ETF | 43,833 | 93,320 | 212.90% |
| PXMV | PowerShares Russell Midcap Pure Value Portfolio | 39,728 | 70,481 | 177.41% |
| IGM | iShares North American Tech ETF | 50,430 | 125,122 | 248.11% |
Disclaimer: All data is from FactSet, 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.
