Weekly ETF Asset Haul Pace Moderates
Still, demand for international equity and U.S. fixed-income ETFs goes on unabated.
The pace of net inflows into U.S.-listed ETFs slowed in the past week, with only about $3.5 billion in net new money flowing into funds—half the previous week’s haul.
Still, the weekly total puts September’s ETF net creations above $30 billion, helping bring year-to-date ETF asset inflows closer to $332 billion—a record.
Demand this past week was heavily concentrated in two asset classes: international equity and U.S. fixed income. These have been strong themes among U.S. ETF investors all year; namely, that non-U.S. markets are poised to outperform in equities, and that the need for income is real.
Some of the most popular funds this week included the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA), the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK).
US Equities Take A Hit
U.S. equity funds were actually net losers in the week, bleeding more than $2.5 billion in net redemptions. Still, some funds stood out, such as the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB), which took in $578 million.
The inflows came despite the fact that health care—and biotech specifically—performed poorly this week. IBB was down some 0.7% in five days.
Another noteworthy find among the week’s top creations is the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), which has now attracted nearly $2 billion in net inflows year-to-date, and has seen a pretty consistent pace of net creations since mid-August.
GLD is up more than 11% this year, delivering returns that aren’t all that different from the 13% in gains the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) has seen so far in 2017.
The U.S. ETF industry today commands about $3.1 trillion in total assets, roughly 82% of which is managed by three issuers—iShares, Vanguard and State Street Global Advisors. In the past week, all top 10 creations were in ETFs from one these three providers.
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 793.47 | 124,882.00 | 0.64% |
IBB | iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology ETF | 578.77 | 10,201.07 | 6.01% |
XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | 526.59 | 26,520.91 | 2.03% |
MDY | SPDR S&P Midcap 400 ETF Trust | 522.95 | 18,391.78 | 2.93% |
VEA | Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF | 516.81 | 62,318.81 | 0.84% |
GLD | SPDR Gold Trust | 516.41 | 36,130.19 | 1.45% |
IEFA | iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 459.14 | 35,732.99 | 1.30% |
JNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF | 334.61 | 12,724.47 | 2.70% |
DIA | SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust | 334.42 | 18,623.82 | 1.83% |
IJR | iShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF | 325.35 | 32,335.97 | 1.02% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -5,177.86 | 241,916.11 | -2.10% |
XLV | Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund | -683.22 | 17,781.77 | -3.70% |
QQQ | PowerShares QQQ Trust | -643.25 | 51,456.31 | -1.23% |
XOP | SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF | -613.07 | 2,296.63 | -21.07% |
XLP | Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund | -394.84 | 8,807.46 | -4.29% |
XLY | Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund | -366.54 | 11,433.84 | -3.11% |
EWJ | iShares MSCI Japan ETF | -358.55 | 15,933.69 | -2.20% |
TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | -306.72 | 9,535.80 | -3.12% |
XIV | VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN | -232.60 | 1,015.82 | -18.63% |
UPRO | ProShares UltraPro S&P500 | -221.00 | 902.64 | -19.67% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | -2,520.20 | 1,728,461.20 | -0.15% |
International Equity | 2,783.97 | 727,491.75 | 0.38% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 2,502.41 | 507,689.57 | 0.49% |
International Fixed Income | 137.33 | 54,544.02 | 0.25% |
Commodities | 685.31 | 66,751.92 | 1.03% |
Currency | -26.15 | 1,393.57 | -1.88% |
Leveraged | 482.53 | 29,554.11 | 1.63% |
Inverse | -335.54 | 17,777.16 | -1.89% |
Asset Allocation | 28.45 | 7,577.02 | 0.38% |
Alternatives | -182.16 | 4,032.66 | -4.52% |
Total: | 3,555.95 | 3,145,272.98 | 0.11% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
XIVH | VelocityShares VIX Short Volatility Hedged ETN | 6,888 | 26,464 | 384.19% |
MBG | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Mortgage Backed Bond ETF | 40,701 | 152,161 | 373.85% |
BBRC | Columbia Beyond BRICs ETF | 19,878 | 59,360 | 298.62% |
RTM | Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight Materials ETF | 12,879 | 37,662 | 292.43% |
NFRA | FlexShares STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure Index Fund | 40,235 | 130,048 | 323.22% |
CCOR | Cambria Core Equity ETF | 14,915 | 39,809 | 266.90% |
CLTL | PowerShares Treasury Collateral Portfolio | 62 | 132 | 213.21% |
FYT | First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund | 11,772 | 29,268 | 248.62% |
EDEN | iShares MSCI Denmark Capped ETF | 10,738 | 27,062 | 252.02% |
FVC | First Trust Dorsey Wright Dynamic Focus 5 ETF | 41,134 | 88,028 | 214.00% |
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.