Midcaps Fuel Brisk Weekly Inflows; Big Outflows Seen In GLD

Senior ETF Analyst

Nov 25, 2016

Reviewed by: Sumit Roy

Edited by: Sumit Roy

Inflows into U.S.-listed ETFs continued at a brisk pace this week, though they slowed from the eye-popping levels of the two previous weeks. In aggregate, a solid $8.1 billion flowed into ETFs in the week ending Nov. 23, even as markets were closed for Thanksgiving on Thursday. Year-to-date inflows now total $217.2 billion.

Once again, the biggest winners were U.S. equity ETFs, with inflows of $6.9 billion. During the week, the S&P 500 hit a record-high 2,210.

Meanwhile, international equity ETFs had inflows of $2.3 billion, and U.S. fixed-income ETFs had inflows of $1.9 billion. Bond markets continued to tumble during the week, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield to 2.42% at one point.

The worst ETF segment of the week was commodities, which had redemptions of $1.9 billion, largely due to outflows from one ETF in particular, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD).

Midcap ETFs In Favor
ETF heavyweights such as the PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ) and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) topped the creations list for individual funds. Both had inflows of around $1 billion.

Midcap ETFs also found themselves in favor, with the SPDR S&P Midcap 400 ETF Trust (MDY) and the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH) garnering inflows of about $500 million apiece.

A few fixed-income ETFs also made the cut. The iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP) had inflows of $465 million, while the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) had inflows of $375 million.

At the same time, two ETFs with exposure to international stocks made the top 10 list: The iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) and the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA) saw inflows of more than $350 million each.

Investors Dump GLD
On the outflows side, the most notable loser was GLD, with outflows of $1.4 billion. A surging dollar, and by extension, tumbling gold prices, pushed investors to sell some of the large positions in GLD that they accumulated throughout the year. Prices for gold hit a nine-month low below $1,180 during the week.

Other commodity-related products to see outflows were the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) and the VelocityShares 3x Long Crude Oil ETN (UWTI), with outflows of $398 million and $326 million, respectively. The latter is scheduled to delist from the NYSE Arca next month.

When it comes to fixed-income products, the biggest loser of the week was the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), which had $532 million in outflows.

Finally, two real estate ETFs fell out of favor this week. The Vanguard REIT Index Fund (VNQ) had outflows of $314 million, and the Vanguard Global ex-US Real Estate Index Fund (VNQI) had outflows of $237 million.

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
QQQ	PowerShares QQQ Trust	1,065.21	40,937.04	2.67%
IWM	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	990.40	36,953.31	2.75%
MDY	SPDR S&P Midcap 400 ETF Trust	563.15	18,146.91	3.20%
IJH	iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF	482.02	32,629.10	1.50%
TIP	iShares TIPS Bond ETF	465.27	21,284.55	2.23%
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund	377.06	67,727.83	0.56%
HYG	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	374.10	16,175.08	2.37%
EWJ	iShares MSCI Japan ETF	365.18	14,792.76	2.53%
IWD	iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	358.91	33,388.62	1.09%
VEA	Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF	358.00	37,356.68	0.97%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	-2,218.47	209,042.36	-1.05%
GLD	SPDR Gold Trust	-1,357.73	34,739.74	-3.76%
TLT	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	-532.36	5,718.90	-8.52%
XOP	SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF	-398.05	1,987.90	-16.68%
EFAV	iShares MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility ETF	-376.96	6,857.86	-5.21%
UWTI	VelocityShares 3x Long Crude Oil ETN	-326.13	1,478.02	-18.08%
VNQ	Vanguard REIT Index Fund	-313.82	31,039.29	-1.00%
FXG	First Trust Consumer Staples AlphaDEX Fund	-254.57	1,659.27	-13.30%
IBB	iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology ETF	-241.26	8,278.96	-2.83%
VNQI	Vanguard Global ex-US Real Estate Index Fund	-236.89	3,269.00	-6.76%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	6,931.08	1,384,943.86	0.50%
International Equity	2,277.01	488,300.90	0.47%
U.S. Fixed Income	1,873.97	399,708.82	0.47%
International Fixed Income	-0.26	38,988.19	-0.00%
Commodities	-1,864.77	65,852.10	-2.83%
Currency	-28.68	3,054.78	-0.94%
Leveraged	-586.27	24,115.18	-2.43%
Inverse	-552.48	18,404.32	-3.00%
Asset Allocation	-113.97	6,096.66	-1.87%
Alternatives	172.32	4,037.42	4.27%
Total:	8,107.93	2,433,502.23	0.33%

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

Ticker	Name	Average Volume (30 Day)	1 Week Average Volume	% of Average
FXR	First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX Fund	458,651	1,777,174	387.48%
QLTA	iShares Aaa-A Rated Corporate Bond ETF	17,326	53,391	308.16%
FXG	First Trust Consumer Staples AlphaDEX Fund	620,254	1,659,508	267.55%
IXG	iShares Global Financials ETF	88,372	210,837	238.58%
DBJP	Deutsche X-trackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity ETF	1,023,473	2,158,420	210.89%
DXGE	WisdomTree Germany Hedged Equity Fund	42,891	104,127	242.77%
HEWJ	iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF	812,468	2,116,757	260.53%
RLY	SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF	20,130	35,177	174.75%
MLPX	Global X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF	108,917	228,494	209.79%
IWX	iShares Russell Top 200 Value ETF	12,669	22,894	180.71%

Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded

Ticker	Name	Weekly Performance	Weekly Volume	AUM ($, mm)
JJT	iPath Bloomberg Tin Subindex Total Return ETN	10.71%	1,426	3.46
SLX	VanEck Vectors Steel ETF	9.34%	788,474	171.83
GREK	Global X MSCI Greece ETF	8.54%	3,207,883	262.21
ERGF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	8.52%	1,682	2.73
UGA	United States Gasoline Fund LP	8.30%	206,491	64.53
IOIL	IQ Global Oil Small Cap ETF	8.20%	3,324	4.10
COPX	Global X Copper Miners ETF	8.10%	388,133	31.53
UNG	United States Natural Gas Fund LP	7.31%	127,808,005	603.01
TOFR	Stock Split Index Fund	7.28%	9,640	3.94
JJE	iPath Bloomberg Energy Subindex Total Return ETN	7.13%	4,708	1.46

Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded

Ticker	Name	Weekly Performance	Weekly Volume	AUM ($, mm)
VMAX	REX VolMAXX Long VIX Weekly Futures Strategy ETF	-8.96%	42,863	2.86
VIIX	VelocityShares Daily Long VIX Short-Term ETN	-7.16%	1,369,517	11.33
VIXY	ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF	-7.10%	8,353,868	172.42
VXX	iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN	-7.04%	141,655,442	1,372.06
SGDJ	Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF	-6.33%	93,879	49.74
PSAU	PowerShares Global Gold & Precious Metals Portfolio	-6.16%	76,137	37.67
GDX	VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF	-6.14%	383,101,509	9,584.92
UBG	ETRACS UBS Bloomberg CMCI Gold Total Return ETN	-6.12%	1,495	6.70
GOEX	Global X Gold Explorers ETF	-6.02%	111,416	60.09
SGDM	Sprott Gold Miners ETF	-5.69%	308,003	189.59

Top 10 YTD Performers

Ticker	Name	YTD Performance	Weekly Performance	AUM ($, mm)
SILJ	PureFunds ISE Junior Silver (Small Cap Miners/Explorers) ETF	145.36%	-2.43%	58.56
XME	SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF	114.08%	7.10%	907.97
KOL	VanEck Vectors Coal ETF	113.76%	2.30%	128.03
SLX	VanEck Vectors Steel ETF	107.79%	9.10%	171.83
SLVP	iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF	93.87%	-2.60%	67.48
RSXJ	VanEck Vectors Russia Small-Cap ETF	86.86%	3.09%	76.93
SIL	Global X Silver Miners ETF	83.41%	-3.52%	321.39
COPX	Global X Copper Miners ETF	82.98%	7.83%	31.53
GDXJ	VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF	75.69%	-2.32%	3,730.43
VIXY	ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF	74.79%	-4.23%	172.42

Bottom 10 YTD Performers

Ticker	Name	YTD Performance	Weekly Performance	AUM ($, mm)
VXX	iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN	-65.20%	-4.28%	1,372.06
VIIX	VelocityShares Daily Long VIX Short-Term ETN	-65.12%	-4.15%	11.33
KWT	VanEck Vectors Solar Energy ETF	-43.09%	-0.36%	10.47
TAN	Guggenheim Solar ETF	-42.33%	1.09%	184.34
NGE	Global X MSCI Nigeria ETF	-39.09%	-2.05%	26.24
GRN	iPath Global Carbon ETN	-37.74%	-8.93%	1.21
GAZ	iPath Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN	-30.56%	-0.20%	4.31
EGPT	VanEck Vectors Egypt Index ETF	-28.29%	-3.35%	35.64
BBC	BioShares Biotechnology Clinical Trials Fund	-25.99%	-0.48%	21.10
NIB	iPath Bloomberg Cocoa Subindex Total Return ETN	-24.78%	0.91%	12.29

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.

Sumit Roy

| Contact: [email protected]

Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com, where he has worked for 13 years. He creates a variety of content for the platform, including news articles, analysis pieces, videos and podcasts.

Before joining etf.com, Sumit was the managing editor and commodities analyst for Hard Assets Investor. In those roles, he was responsible for most of the operations of HAI, a website dedicated to education about commodities investing.

Though he still closely follows the commodities beat, Sumit covers a much broader assortment of topics for etf.com, with a particular focus on stock and bond exchange-traded funds.

He is the host of etf.com’s Talk ETFs, a popular video series that features weekly interviews with thought leaders in the ETF industry. Sumit is also co-host of Exchange Traded Fridays, etf.com’s weekly podcast series.

He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys climbing the city’s steep hills, playing chess and snowboarding in Lake Tahoe.

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