Monster Month For New ETF Assets
Nov. shaping up to be one of the biggest months for new assets in U.S.-listed ETFs.
With the end of November just a few days away, it is safe to say this month is approaching one of the biggest months ever for new assets flowing into U.S.-listed ETFs.
For the week ending Thursday, Nov. 26, more than $17 billion of ETF inflows registered, taking the month’s total to more than $80 billion, with $90 billion a realistic possibility. And for the year, the total now tops $430 billion, well within striking distance of 2017’s annual record of $475 billion.
Despite the tumultuous past weeks that included market volatility, the election of Joe Biden as president, a worldwide spike in COVID-19 cases while at the same time announcements that vaccines are now weeks away, investors continue to invest heavily in U.S. equities, with $7.8 billion of new inflows, led by the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) seeing the highest demand, with $1.1 billion of new investor funds.
Ironically or not, SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) led outflows, with $2.7 billion. The $323 billion fund typically is used more and more as a trading tool in volatile markets because of its high liquidity, and this may be an example of that. No other large broad-based equity fund landed on the top outflows list.
For most of the year, demand for U.S. fixed income ETFs has outpaced U.S. equities by close to a 2-1 margin. However, over the last few weeks as bond yields have risen, and price fell, investors have been favoring U.S. equities more. Year-to-date, U.S. fixed income ETFs has attracted more than $170 billion in new assets, compared to $142 billion for U.S. equities.
Fixed Income A Mixed Bag
U.S. fixed income ETFs were represented in the top inflows, with iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) seeing more than $1 billion, the iShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (IGSB) adding $800 million and iShares Boxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) getting $738 million.
On the outflows side of the coin, iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) had $1.9 billion in assets exit, along with iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV) and iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) seeing $487 million and $334 million, respectively.
Gold & Silver Selloff
Commodities was the lone asset class to register a net outflow, with the bulk of the $1.95 billion out lows coming from SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) with $1.4 billion and $478 million, respectively. Gold and silver prices have been falling in the face of rising bond rates.
For a list of this week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 1,125.71 | 189,219.55 | 0.59% |
| AGG | iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | 1,003.64 | 82,974.73 | 1.21% |
| IGSB | iShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | 799.61 | 21,624.03 | 3.70% |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | 738.72 | 58,013.18 | 1.27% |
| XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | 736.43 | 22,585.33 | 3.26% |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | 726.67 | 141,389.43 | 0.51% |
| EWJ | iShares MSCI Japan ETF | 723.15 | 12,626.38 | 5.73% |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | 710.98 | 51,310.32 | 1.39% |
| VXUS | Vanguard Total International Stock ETF | 652.08 | 34,859.18 | 1.87% |
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 625.56 | 177,529.83 | 0.35% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -2,780.10 | 323,767.53 | -0.86% |
| IEF | iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF | -1,902.85 | 16,317.21 | -11.66% |
| GLD | SPDR Gold Trust | -1,435.01 | 69,109.08 | -2.08% |
| SPYG | SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF | -570.35 | 9,200.56 | -6.20% |
| USMV | iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF | -551.87 | 33,819.91 | -1.63% |
| SHV | iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF | -487.00 | 18,993.15 | -2.56% |
| SLV | iShares Silver Trust | -477.90 | 12,623.04 | -3.79% |
| TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | -334.96 | 18,046.40 | -1.86% |
| IBB | iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology ETF | -297.78 | 9,168.73 | -3.25% |
| XLK | Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund | -229.24 | 36,240.56 | -0.63% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 7,787.44 | 2,973,565.55 | 0.26% |
| International Equity | 6,179.07 | 980,759.91 | 0.63% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 3,812.00 | 955,144.36 | 0.40% |
| International Fixed Income | 847.21 | 118,094.17 | 0.72% |
| Commodities | -1,947.23 | 137,134.70 | -1.42% |
| Currency | 5.57 | 1,834.33 | 0.30% |
| Leveraged | 234.03 | 40,930.51 | 0.57% |
| Inverse | 178.07 | 12,008.09 | 1.48% |
| Asset Allocation | 78.74 | 12,848.44 | 0.61% |
| Alternatives | 137.15 | 5,202.28 | 2.64% |
| Total: | 17,312.05 | 5,237,522.35 | 0.33% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 142,054.78 | 2,973,565.55 | 4.78% |
| International Equity | 38,897.10 | 980,759.91 | 3.97% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 170,229.65 | 955,144.36 | 17.82% |
| International Fixed Income | 20,629.92 | 118,094.17 | 17.47% |
| Commodities | 40,974.51 | 137,134.70 | 29.88% |
| Currency | 486.69 | 1,834.33 | 26.53% |
| Leveraged | 1,161.02 | 40,930.51 | 2.84% |
| Inverse | 13,336.49 | 12,008.09 | 111.06% |
| Asset Allocation | 2,627.34 | 12,848.44 | 20.45% |
| Alternatives | 211.56 | 5,202.28 | 4.07% |
| Total: | 430,609.06 | 5,237,522.35 | 8.22% |
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| PSM | Principal U.S. Small-MidCap Multi-Factor ETF | 22.25% | 1,100 | 11.47 |
| XES | SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF | 14.76% | 549,636 | 119.31 |
| FRAK | VanEck Vectors Unconventional Oil & Gas ETF | 14.17% | 10,120 | 11.34 |
| PXJ | Invesco Dynamic Oil & Gas Services ETF | 13.95% | 334,340 | 8.50 |
| OIH | VanEck Vectors Oil Services ETF | 13.80% | 2,357,224 | 664.75 |
| XOP | SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF | 13.41% | 36,443,066 | 2,378.21 |
| FCG | First Trust Natural Gas ETF | 13.40% | 4,070,046 | 115.17 |
| RYE | Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF | 13.26% | 286,438 | 60.86 |
| PXI | Invesco DWA Energy Momentum ETF | 13.05% | 49,669 | 19.26 |
| IEZ | iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF | 12.92% | 988,069 | 66.63 |
Top 10 YTD Performers
| Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
| PBW | Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF | 171.03% | 10.78% | 1,641.27 |
| TAN | Invesco Solar ETF | 169.58% | 8.95% | 2,508.55 |
| QCLN | First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund | 156.47% | 8.79% | 1,490.25 |
| ARKW | ARK Next Generation Internet ETF | 124.36% | 4.09% | 3,902.66 |
| ARKG | ARK Genomic Revolution ETF | 122.91% | -0.49% | 3,658.81 |
| KGRN | KraneShares MSCI China Environment Index ETF | 119.52% | 6.68% | 46.43 |
| ARKK | ARK Innovation ETF | 112.07% | 2.79% | 12,255.69 |
| ACES | ALPS Clean Energy ETF | 108.92% | 7.64% | 602.73 |
| CNRG | SPDR S&P Kensho Clean Power ETF | 107.93% | 8.75% | 143.18 |
| PBD | Invesco Global Clean Energy ETF | 107.45% | 6.80% | 186.00 |
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.
