Midcaps Fuel Brisk Weekly Inflows; Big Outflows Seen In GLD
Inflows into U.S.-listed ETFs continued at a brisk pace despite the holiday-shortened trading week.
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.