Muted Weekly ETF Inflows Of $4B
Fears over a diverted (for now) U.S. default left net ETF flows basically flat.
Angst over whether or not the Senate could come to an agreement over avoiding a first-ever default of the U.S. government left net flows paralyzed for much of the week.
U.S.-listed ETFs generated just more than $4.3 billion in net inflows between Oct. 1 and Oct. 7, according to ETF.com data provider FactSet. The space has gained a net $652.3 billion in assets so far this year, and now has more than $6.64 trillion in assets under management.
International Equities Lead
Senators passed a stopgap increase to the debt ceiling that will keep the federal government from default until early December. The House, which passed a debt ceiling bill of its own in September, is expected to take up the temporary extension early next week and avert a critical shock to the global economy and its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
International equity ETFs led all asset classes on the week with a net inflow of $2.8 billion versus U.S. equities, which brought in $557.8 million, marking a third time in 30 days where international stock ETFs outperformed their domestic U.S. counterparts. The iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) led ETFs in inflows this week with a gain of $1.4 billion, and is the only international equity ETF to appear in the top 10 gainers.
U.S. broad market funds also saw gains, with the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) adding almost $1.1 billion in assets, while the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) and iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) added $630.2 million and $609.2 million, respectively.
At the same time, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) lost just over $3.9 billion.
Treasuries Shorten
U.S. fixed income ETFs lost $85.8 million on a particularly mixed week of trading that trended shorter.
The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) lost $2.1 billion and nearly 14% of its assets to outflows in the period as the spread between 20-year and 30-year Treasury bonds flattened to 5 basis points, with inflation worries weighing down long-term debt.
Leading inflows for bond ETFs was the iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY), with a gain of $1.1 billion, taking advantage of yields that were driven up by the risk of default. However, the Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF (SCHO) saw outflows of $363.5 million in the same period.
The two leading corporate debt ETFs both saw outflows on the week, with the iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) losing $1.5 billion, while the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) lost almost $479.4 million.
Buying The Tech Dip
Rising bond yields and sell-offs in broad equities left some investors eyeing cheap tech stocks for a quick profit.
That aggressive mentality was on display as the ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) took in $839.5 million in net inflows compared to its sister fund, the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which pulled in $663.2 million.
Retail may be the most likely source of that tech buying. According to estimates of ETF flows by retail traders from VandaTrack, QQQ had net inflows of $1.5 billion in September from self-led accounts versus $854 million in net flows overall.
For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
IEFA | iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 1,372.26 | 98,576.80 | 1.39% |
SHY | iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 1,128.37 | 20,344.63 | 5.55% |
VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 1,096.02 | 251,164.39 | 0.44% |
TQQQ | ProShares UltraPro QQQ | 839.48 | 15,748.59 | 5.33% |
IEF | iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 670.30 | 14,379.03 | 4.66% |
QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | 663.22 | 184,117.56 | 0.36% |
VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 630.23 | 266,615.62 | 0.24% |
IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | 609.26 | 67,638.99 | 0.90% |
BND | Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF | 538.37 | 82,410.74 | 0.65% |
XLC | Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund | 527.17 | 15,835.12 | 3.33% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -3,917.48 | 387,508.96 | -1.01% |
TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | -2,060.87 | 14,735.97 | -13.99% |
LQD | iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | -1,467.60 | 39,235.15 | -3.74% |
XLV | Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund | -992.75 | 29,449.74 | -3.37% |
PDP | Invesco DWA Momentum ETF | -583.86 | 1,775.30 | -32.89% |
XBI | SPDR S&P Biotech ETF | -488.54 | 6,532.02 | -7.48% |
JNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF | -479.47 | 8,500.01 | -5.64% |
AGG | iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | -401.71 | 88,913.49 | -0.45% |
SCHO | Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF | -363.51 | 9,138.96 | -3.98% |
XLP | Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund | -345.81 | 11,608.85 | -2.98% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | 557.87 | 3,919,265.41 | 0.01% |
International Equity | 2,839.67 | 1,255,313.74 | 0.23% |
U.S. Fixed Income | -85.89 | 1,081,759.25 | -0.01% |
International Fixed Income | 139.45 | 148,512.27 | 0.09% |
Commodities | -20.78 | 135,847.06 | -0.02% |
Currency | 31.31 | 1,922.87 | 1.63% |
Leveraged | 869.96 | 63,185.52 | 1.38% |
Inverse | -122.58 | 12,917.82 | -0.95% |
Asset Allocation | 135.31 | 18,568.35 | 0.73% |
Alternatives | -21.61 | 6,751.12 | -0.32% |
Total: | 4,322.73 | 6,644,043.42 | 0.07% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | 306,996.63 | 3,919,265.41 | 7.83% |
International Equity | 174,129.39 | 1,255,313.74 | 13.87% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 129,437.81 | 1,081,759.25 | 11.97% |
International Fixed Income | 28,889.05 | 148,512.27 | 19.45% |
Commodities | -4,098.70 | 135,847.06 | -3.02% |
Currency | 49.07 | 1,922.87 | 2.55% |
Leveraged | 4,356.44 | 63,185.52 | 6.89% |
Inverse | 5,566.32 | 12,917.82 | 43.09% |
Asset Allocation | 4,326.14 | 18,568.35 | 23.30% |
Alternatives | 2,658.92 | 6,751.12 | 39.38% |
Total: | 652,311.06 | 6,644,043.42 | 9.82% |
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
BDRY | Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF | 12.49% | 1,382,889 | 134.87 |
DAPP | VanEck Digital Transformation ETF | 7.47% | 179,405 | 51.32 |
BITQ | Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF | 6.75% | 366,852 | 77.69 |
BAL | iPath Series B Bloomberg Cotton Subindex Total Return ETN | 6.30% | 100,344 | 19.27 |
BKCH | Global X Blockchain ETF | 5.89% | 305,624 | 50.50 |
CRPT | First Trust SkyBridge Crypto Industry and Digital Economy ETF | 5.39% | 112,100 | 7.01 |
SOGU | The Short De-SPAC ETF | 5.37% | 14,521 | 20.96 |
RIGZ | Viridi Cleaner Energy Crypto-Mining & Semiconductor ETF | 5.34% | 35,064 | 10.94 |
EIDO | iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF | 5.21% | 2,785,688 | 376.39 |
SGDJ | Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF | 5.01% | 73,420 | 113.90 |
Top 10 YTD Performers
Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
BDRY | Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF | 439.09% | 12.49% | 134.87 |
UNG | United States Natural Gas Fund LP | 114.67% | 2.44% | 421.66 |
GAZ | iPath Series B Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN | 106.38% | 1.99% | 14.52 |
FCG | First Trust Natural Gas ETF | 101.25% | 1.62% | 439.92 |
JJT | iPath Series B Bloomberg Tin Subindex Total Return ETN | 97.33% | 4.07% | 15.61 |
PXE | Invesco Dynamic Energy Exploration & Production ETF | 96.45% | 1.60% | 108.60 |
FRAK | VanEck Unconventional Oil & Gas ETF | 95.32% | 2.75% | 18.00 |
UNL | United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund LP | 90.50% | 2.11% | 17.16 |
GRN | iPath Series B Carbon ETN | 85.03% | -5.05% | 83.92 |
PXI | Invesco DWA Energy Momentum ETF | 83.72% | 1.07% | 78.49 |
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.