US Equity ETF Flows Reverse Trend

The week ended Thursday, Feb. 14 was one of—if not the top—asset-gathering weeks for U.S.-listed ETFs in the past 12 months, with $9.2 billion in inflows.

U.S. equity ETFs, which have seen outflows of more than $20 billion year-to-date, saw a reversal of this trend, with the asset class gaining more than $6 billion during the week. Meanwhile, international equity ETFs lost $1.2 billion during the week, and U.S. fixed-income ETFs gained $3 billion.

The only other ETF asset classes to have net outflows during the week and still be down year-to-date in terms of flows were currency, commodities and asset allocation.

Smart-Beta/Fixed-Income ETFs See Top Flows

The SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY) pulled in the most of any ETF, gaining $1.8 billion, but looking beyond that sees flows taking an interesting turn. SPY was followed by the iShares MBS ETF (MBB), which tracks investment-grade mortgage-backed securities, gained $1.3 billion. In fact, fixed-income ETFs represented fully half of the top 10 ETFs for inflows. Three smart-beta ETFs almost made the top 10 inflows for the week.

But the Oppenheimer Russell 1000 Dynamic Multifactor ETF (OMFL) was perhaps the most interesting fund of the week. It increased its assets by 68%, with a gain of $559.3 million, a massive influx of dollars for a fund under $1 billion in assets.

With regard to the fixed-income flows, the Vanguard Total International Bond Index ETF (BNDX) was in the No. 4 spot on the top 10 list, pulling in $872.3 million, while the Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF (SCHO) gained $713.8 million to claim the fifth spot on the list. The iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) and the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) each had inflows of more than $335 million.

Two smart-beta ETFs focusing on volatility claimed the Nos. 3 and 10 spots, with the Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF (SPLV) and the iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol U.S.A. ETF (USMV), gaining $880.2 million and $339 million, respectively.

Varied Outflows
Four fixed-income ETFs made it into the top 10 for outflows, with the Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF (BSV) losing $591.1 million to claim the top spot. International equities had some representation as well in the top outflows list, with the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (VEU) losing $524 million and the iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI) losing $470.1 million.

Perhaps the most remarkable outflows was the $421.9 million lost by the HYG competitor SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK), despite HYG’s large gain, and the $242.9 million lost by the SCHO competitor iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV).

Additionally, while SPY, with its large-cap U.S. focus, saw the most inflows of any ETF, the blue-chip SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) saw $233.1 in outflows.

For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below.

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

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.