Strongest Weekly ETF Inflows Since June

Senior ETF Analyst

Oct 06, 2017

Reviewed by: Sumit Roy

Edited by: Sumit Roy

Weekly inflows zoomed to their strongest level since June, as a string of record highs in the U.S. stock market lent confidence to investors. In total, $12 billion entered U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, Oct. 5, according to FactSet.

That was the best haul since a monster $30.4 billion entered ETFs during the second week of June, and pushes year-to-date inflows to a record $344.5 billion. Total ETF assets now stand above $3.2 trillion.

Longest Streak Since '97

Throughout the week, it wasn't just ETF flows that were hitting records. The S&P 500 rallied for eight-straight sessions through Thursday, its longest winning streak since 2013. At the same time, the index was on a six-session roll of hitting record highs, the longest such streak since 1997.

The S&P 500 topped 2,552 on Thursday, equaling a year-to-date gain of 15.8%. However, the streak of records was at risk of ending on Friday after a disappointing jobs report―nonfarm payrolls contracted for the first time since 2010 in September―prompted investors to take profits.

Meanwhile, bond yields jumped to their highest level in three months this week, as expectations grew that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates in December. The 10-year Treasury bond yield was last trading at 2.37%, up from 2.33% a week ago.

Aside from the weak jobs report, which was weighed down by hurricane activity, recent economic data has been strong.

The ISM Manufacturing index, for example, hit 60.8 in September, its best level since 2004. Likewise, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index hit 59.8, its highest level since 2005.

'IEFA' Tops Inflows List

Despite slumping bond prices, U.S. fixed-income ETFs continued to pull in billions of dollars of new money. That segment had inflows of $2.7 billion, led by inflows of $713 million for the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) and $573 million for the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG).

However, the largest amount of money went into U.S. and international equity ETFs. The former had inflows of $5.8 billion during the period, while the latter had inflows of $3.6 billion.

Big equity ETF winners included the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI), with inflows of more than $1 billion apiece.

One segment to see outflows during the week was commodity ETFs, with net redemptions of $268 million. The biggest loser in that space was the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), with outflows of nearly $550 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
IEFA	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	1,190.22	37,398.33	3.29%
XLI	Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund	1,063.34	12,141.63	9.60%
VEA	Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF	910.67	63,897.86	1.45%
LQD	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	713.41	38,285.39	1.90%
IVV	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	608.23	128,041.01	0.48%
XLF	Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund	597.18	28,185.85	2.16%
HYG	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	573.17	19,871.98	2.97%
IJR	iShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF	481.40	34,280.11	1.42%
IWF	iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF	361.88	37,447.31	0.98%
IWD	iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	337.55	37,640.21	0.90%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	-715.79	244,046.94	-0.29%
TLT	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	-635.28	8,845.52	-6.70%
QQQ	PowerShares QQQ Trust	-623.82	52,078.93	-1.18%
GLD	SPDR Gold Trust	-546.21	34,865.28	-1.54%
XLP	Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund	-488.51	8,293.99	-5.56%
IYR	iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF	-386.75	4,183.93	-8.46%
DIA	SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust	-349.01	18,578.34	-1.84%
IWB	iShares Russell 1000 ETF	-301.40	19,297.51	-1.54%
SSO	ProShares Ultra S&P 500	-268.71	1,929.81	-12.22%
QLD	ProShares Ultra QQQ	-256.50	1,341.28	-16.05%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	5,845.65	1,766,969.40	0.33%
International Equity	3,555.08	742,217.97	0.48%
U.S. Fixed Income	2,650.18	509,647.24	0.52%
International Fixed Income	739.52	55,133.35	1.34%
Commodities	-268.15	65,282.11	-0.41%
Currency	-67.56	1,316.84	-5.13%
Leveraged	-324.77	30,021.30	-1.08%
Inverse	-305.52	17,351.57	-1.76%
Asset Allocation	18.76	8,447.32	0.22%
Alternatives	121.30	4,112.93	2.95%
Total:	11,964.47	3,200,500.03	0.37%

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

Ticker	Name	Average Volume (30 Day)	1 Week Average Volume	% of Average
KCE	SPDR S&P Capital Markets ETF	9,141	33,562	367.15%
IBDD	iShares iBonds Mar 2023 Term Corporate ETF	6,403	20,381	318.31%
FRAK	VanEck Vectors Unconventional Oil & Gas ETF	36,323	125,456	345.39%
PDN	Powershares FTSE RAFI Developed Markets ex-US Small-Mid ETF	26,036	72,409	278.12%
DMRM	DeltaShares S&P 400 Managed Risk ETF	10	49	480.89%
QUS	SPDR MSCI USA StrategicFactors ETF	3,437	11,506	334.79%
MLPC	C-Tracks Miller/Howard MLP Fundamental ETN	1,871	6,400	342.04%
EGPT	VanEck Vectors Egypt Index ETF	13,939	39,763	285.27%
FDIV	First Trust Strategic Income ETF	14,548	65,313	448.95%
HYMB	SPDR Nuveen S&P High Yield Municipal Bond ETF	100,601	326,368	324.42%

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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Strongest Weekly ETF Inflows Since June

Strongest Weekly ETF Inflows Since June

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