ETF Inflows Hit $353B As 'SPY' & 'IVV' Diverge

Oct 13, 2017

Reviewed by: Sumit Roy

Edited by: Sumit Roy

Stock markets and ETF inflows continued to ascend to record highs this week as investor confidence remained strong. A total of $8.3 billion flowed into U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds, pushing year-to-date inflows to $353.1 billion.

There's seemingly no end in sight to the deluge of money that's been headed into ETFs, with asset classes across the board benefiting.

The only thing that changes from week to week is which segment of the ETF universe benefits the most. This time it was international equity ETFs that garnered the strongest inflows, at $4.1 billion. That was followed by U.S. equity ETFs, with inflows of $1.8 billion, and U.S. fixed-income ETFs, with inflows of $1.7 billion.

All-Time Global Highs

During the week, the S&P 500 crept up to yet another all-time high. The index was last trading around 2,557, for a year-to-date gain of nearly 16%.

Other milestones reached during the week included an all-time high for the MSCI World Index; a 21-year high for Japanese stocks; and a six-year high for emerging markets.

Meanwhile, in fixed-income markets, the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond yield sagged to its lowest point since late September, at 2.28%, even as Federal Reserve officials signaled that a December rate hike is likely.

The Fed news was offset by reports about the European Central Bank, which, according to sources, may extend its quantitative easing program by nine months, until September of next year. Monthly bond purchases are expected to be cut in half, to 30 billion euros, starting in January, if sources are correct.

'IVV' & 'SPY' Diverge

In terms of weekly flows winners and losers, the top spot went to the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), with an inflow of $1.3 billion. IVV also holds the mantle as the biggest flows winner year-to-date, with inflows totaling a whopping $25.2 billion.

The iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) and the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) were other popular products during the week, with creations of $962 million and $863 million, respectively.

On the outflows side, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was the biggest loser, with a redemption of $866 million. Year-to-date outflows for the fund total $10.8 billion and stand in sharp contrast to IVV.

Other losers during the week included the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU), the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP), the iShares MSCI Spain Capped ETF (EWP) and the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT).

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
IVV	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	1,255.48	129,846.69	0.98%
IEMG	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	961.71	38,590.78	2.56%
IEFA	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	863.24	38,148.45	2.32%
XLI	Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund	629.20	12,682.09	5.22%
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	474.78	85,955.07	0.56%
VV	Vanguard Large-Cap ETF	462.78	10,378.49	4.67%
HYG	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	370.36	20,247.91	1.86%
QQQ	PowerShares QQQ Trust	345.70	53,155.80	0.65%
ITOT	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	338.60	11,687.82	2.98%
VWO	Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF	317.46	64,417.71	0.50%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	-866.49	244,528.24	-0.35%
XLU	Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund	-528.94	7,509.91	-6.58%
XLP	Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund	-402.23	7,822.56	-4.89%
EWP	iShares MSCI Spain Capped ETF	-364.34	1,080.47	-25.22%
TLT	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	-323.08	8,670.63	-3.59%
IWB	iShares Russell 1000 ETF	-312.61	19,460.18	-1.58%
FEX	First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund	-295.31	1,490.88	-16.53%
MDY	SPDR S&P Midcap 400 ETF Trust	-239.67	19,184.77	-1.23%
XLV	Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund	-232.35	17,709.35	-1.30%
FTA	First Trust Large Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund	-209.92	1,044.15	-16.74%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	1,799.22	1,775,130.58	0.10%
International Equity	4,093.75	749,732.15	0.55%
U.S. Fixed Income	1,657.75	510,514.98	0.32%
International Fixed Income	192.51	55,231.67	0.35%
Commodities ETFs	97.54	66,479.08	0.15%
Currency	27.96	1,332.12	2.10%
Leveraged	426.65	30,563.22	1.40%
Inverse	-100.75	17,153.29	-0.59%
Asset Allocation	73.15	8,524.52	0.86%
Alternatives	15.74	4,074.34	0.39%
Total:	8,283.52	3,218,735.96	0.26%

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

Ticker	Name	Average Volume (30 Day)	1 Week Average Volume	% of Average
VV	Vanguard Large-Cap ETF	270,481	1,091,034	403.37%
MLPZ	ETRACS 2xMonthly Leveraged S&P MLP Index ETN Series B	282	963	341.35%
NORW	Global X MSCI Norway ETF	185,944	682,271	366.92%
HYLB	Deutsche X-trackers USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	30,277	155,396	513.24%
IWL	iShares Russell Top 200 ETF	5,041	19,936	395.45%
DEUS	Deutsche X-trackers Russell 1000 Comprehensive Factor ETF	44,056	140,039	317.86%
ELD	WisdomTree Emerging Markets Local Debt Fund	39,570	141,944	358.71%
SIZE	iShares Edge MSCI USA Size Factor ETF	22,130	49,522	223.78%
CCOR	Cambria Core Equity ETF	17,517	36,246	206.92%
IWV	iShares Russell 3000 ETF	148,225	287,894	194.23%

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's worked for 12 years. Before joining the company, Roy was the managing editor and commodities analyst for Hard Assets Investor. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys climbing the city’s steep hills, playing pickleball and snowboarding.

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ETF Inflows Hit $353B As 'SPY' & 'IVV' Diverge

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