Treasury ETFs Boost Weekly Inflows

Senior ETF Analyst

Apr 23, 2021

Reviewed by: Sumit Roy

Edited by: Sumit Roy

A fairly ho-hum week for financial markets still resulted in investors adding modestly to their ETF holdings. On net, $1.5 billion flowed into U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, April 22. That brought year-to-date inflows up to $295.6 billion, staying well ahead of last year’s $116 billion pace.

Throughout the week, the S&P 500 hovered near its record high set last Friday—though there was some turbulence on Thursday following rumors about a proposed capital gains tax hike. Investors pulled $8.5 billion out of U.S. equity ETFs during the period, but that was more than made up for by the $3.6 billion that flowed into international equity ETFs and the $5.9 billion that went into U.S. fixed income ETFs.

Treasury ETFs Lead

In terms of individual funds, short-term Treasury ETFs were among the biggest asset gatherers of the week. The Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Index ETF (VGSH) and the Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF (SCHO) both found themselves on the weekly inflows top 10.

The iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT)—which holds a range of Treasuries with maturities greater than one year—also saw interest, with inflows of $1.1 billion.

The rapid rise in Treasury bond yields from earlier this year has seemingly stalled. Since peaking around 1.75% at the end of March, the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dipped below 1.55% this week (bond yields and prices move inversely).

The recent strength in Treasuries has also lent support to corporate bonds and corporate bond ETFs, like the iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD), which pilled in $537 million of fresh cash during the week.

‘QQQ’ & ‘ARK’ Shed Assets

Looking at equity ETFs, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) and the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) all made the top inflows list for the week.

On the other hand, the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK)—both tech-heavy funds—made appearances on the weekly outflows list.

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
VGSH	Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Index ETF	1,608.72	11,657.35	13.80%
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	1,126.69	219,688.80	0.51%
GOVT	iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF	1,094.82	15,719.49	6.96%
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	668.52	238,084.59	0.28%
BBEU	JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF	611.51	5,255.53	11.64%
IVV	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	577.91	276,332.71	0.21%
LQD	iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	536.68	42,251.26	1.27%
SCHO	Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF	536.05	8,027.45	6.68%
XBI	SPDR S&P Biotech ETF	490.98	7,180.08	6.84%
XLV	Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund	482.71	26,312.54	1.83%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
QQQ	Invesco QQQ Trust	-3,842.94	164,625.97	-2.33%
FTCS	First Trust Capital Strength ETF	-2,196.63	7,781.05	-28.23%
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	-2,085.69	361,019.11	-0.58%
ILCG	iShare Morningstar Growth ETF	-1,538.68	1,891.14	-81.36%
IMCG	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	-1,363.84	1,522.90	-89.56%
HYG	iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	-740.87	22,240.18	-3.33%
ISCG	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	-705.70	757.87	-93.12%
ILCB	iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF	-695.46	892.27	-77.94%
IMCB	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	-676.06	878.73	-76.94%
ARKK	ARK Innovation ETF	-637.63	23,687.96	-2.69%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	-8,489.24	3,608,392.68	-0.24%
International Equity	3,585.21	1,218,915.00	0.29%
U.S. Fixed Income	5,876.43	999,623.65	0.59%
International Fixed Income	790.52	133,994.80	0.59%
Commodities	-88.78	134,380.72	-0.07%
Currency	-78.02	1,760.21	-4.43%
Leveraged	-319.14	57,267.14	-0.56%
Inverse	47.02	10,821.40	0.43%
Asset Allocation	70.56	15,222.54	0.46%
Alternatives	142.28	6,164.64	2.31%
Total:	1,536.83	6,186,542.79	0.02%

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	137,839.59	3,608,392.68	3.82%
International Equity	95,677.85	1,218,915.00	7.85%
U.S. Fixed Income	48,934.05	999,623.65	4.90%
International Fixed Income	13,095.75	133,994.80	9.77%
Commodities	-6,667.27	134,380.72	-4.96%
Currency	-135.52	1,760.21	-7.70%
Leveraged	1,952.04	57,267.14	3.41%
Inverse	2,116.23	10,821.40	19.56%
Asset Allocation	1,243.50	15,222.54	8.17%
Alternatives	1,531.16	6,164.64	24.84%
Total:	295,587.37	6,186,542.79	4.78%

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

Ticker	Name	Weekly Performance	Weekly Volume	AUM ($, mm)
IMCG	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	498.02%	629,673	1,522.90
ISCG	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	495.65%	845,439	757.87
ILCG	iShare Morningstar Growth ETF	396.63%	577,028	1,891.14
ILCB	iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF	298.76%	134,975	892.27
IMCB	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	298.70%	142,528	878.73
ISCB	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF	296.60%	23,452	243.89
IMCV	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	199.09%	95,407	455.72
ISCV	iShares Morningstar Small Cap Value ETF	197.53%	121,174	435.01
ILCV	iShares Morningstar Value ETF	99.79%	75,814	685.81
MLPO	Credit Suisse S&P MLP Index ETN	20.72%	5,356	21.50

Top 10 YTD Performers

Ticker	Name	YTD Performance	Weekly Performance	AUM ($, mm)
IMCG	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	524.96%	498.02%	1,522.90
ISCG	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	505.99%	495.65%	757.87
ILCG	iShare Morningstar Growth ETF	433.00%	396.63%	1,891.14
ISCB	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF	366.39%	296.60%	243.89
IMCB	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	347.01%	298.70%	878.73
ILCB	iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF	336.02%	298.76%	892.27
ISCV	iShares Morningstar Small Cap Value ETF	271.19%	197.53%	435.01
IMCV	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	265.89%	199.09%	455.72
BDRY	Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF	184.16%	10.56%	65.10
ILCV	iShares Morningstar Value ETF	127.59%	99.79%	685.81

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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Treasury ETFs Boost Weekly Inflows

Treasury ETFs Boost Weekly Inflows

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