U.S. stocks headed for their fifth-consecutive week of gains, but ETF investors took it as an opportunity to take chips off the table. They pulled a net $3.7 billion from U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds during the holiday-shortened week, taking advantage of relatively high share prices to sell, with many uncertainties still lingering.
Even after the outflows during the week ending Thursday, Jan. 24, inflows for the year as a whole remained positive, at $4.7 billion.
Equity ETFs Lose Assets
U.S. equity and international equity ETFs had the biggest outflows during the latest week. About $4.1 billion and $490 million, respectively, came out of funds tied to those asset classes.
The Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF), the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) and the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA) were among the biggest flows losers during the week.
Though the U.S. government shutdown is scheduled to end temporarily in the coming days, global slowdown and trade concerns haven’t gone away.
Those concerns fueled continued demand for fixed-income ETFs. U.S. and international fixed-income ETFs had combined weekly inflows of more than $520 million.
Huge inflows for the Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF (VCSH), the Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF (VCIT) and the iShares MBS ETF (MBB) offset sizable outflows from the Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF (BSV), the Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF (BIV) and the iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG).
For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| VCSH | Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF | 2,859.77 | 23,182.92 | 12.34% |
| VCIT | Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF | 1,788.04 | 20,688.00 | 8.64% |
| MBB | iShares MBS ETF | 889.78 | 13,712.69 | 6.49% |
| IEMG | iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF | 650.14 | 54,348.65 | 1.20% |
| GLD | SPDR Gold Trust | 500.79 | 33,310.73 | 1.50% |
| EMB | iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF | 434.60 | 16,117.58 | 2.70% |
| USMV | iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol U.S.A. ETF | 334.98 | 20,707.87 | 1.62% |
| TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | 298.43 | 9,738.62 | 3.06% |
| IJR | iShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF | 225.64 | 40,912.84 | 0.55% |
| TIP | iShares TIPS Bond ETF | 219.40 | 21,549.92 | 1.02% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| BSV | Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF | -3,119.60 | 24,129.46 | -12.93% |
| BIV | Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF | -1,464.45 | 11,523.18 | -12.71% |
| HYG | iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -807.80 | 13,915.23 | -5.81% |
| XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -544.96 | 23,788.55 | -2.29% |
| XLE | Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund | -501.43 | 13,271.78 | -3.78% |
| VEA | Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF | -486.88 | 67,775.35 | -0.72% |
| VYM | Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF | -470.06 | 21,785.39 | -2.16% |
| ACWX | iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF | -467.02 | 4,044.56 | -11.55% |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | -464.71 | 63,266.33 | -0.73% |
| IEFA | iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | -457.60 | 54,433.15 | -0.84% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | -4,118.31 | 1,985,669.82 | -0.21% |
| International Equity | -492.57 | 773,429.09 | -0.06% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 62.13 | 605,375.78 | 0.01% |
| International Fixed Income | 460.68 | 68,501.33 | 0.67% |
| Commodities | 654.18 | 64,759.26 | 1.01% |
| Currency | -32.28 | 1,625.70 | -1.99% |
| Leveraged | -185.29 | 32,923.48 | -0.56% |
| Inverse | 75.56 | 12,354.99 | 0.61% |
| Asset Allocation | -109.43 | 9,428.37 | -1.16% |
| Alternatives | -53.93 | 5,197.51 | -1.04% |
| Total: | -3,739.25 | 3,559,265.33 | -0.11% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | -13,882.92 | 1,985,669.82 | -0.70% |
| International Equity | 3,787.36 | 773,429.09 | 0.49% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 10,627.13 | 605,375.78 | 1.76% |
| International Fixed Income | 2,094.78 | 68,501.33 | 3.06% |
| Commodities | 1,326.43 | 64,759.26 | 2.05% |
| Currency | -178.67 | 1,625.70 | -10.99% |
| Leveraged | -797.04 | 32,923.48 | -2.42% |
| Inverse | 1,813.17 | 12,354.99 | 14.68% |
| Asset Allocation | -228.92 | 9,428.37 | -2.43% |
| Alternatives | 142.27 | 5,197.51 | 2.74% |
| Total: | 4,703.58 | 3,559,265.33 | 0.13% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) |
1 Week Average Volume |
% of Average |
| HSRT | Hartford Short Duration ETF | 228 | 1,347 | 591.08% |
| GIGB | Goldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | 59,423 | 342,289 | 576.02% |
| VXXB | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN | 1,143,261 | 4,036,456 | 353.07% |
| HOLD | AdvisorShares Sage Core Reserves ETF | 2,939 | 10,340 | 351.82% |
| PSC | Principal U.S. Small-Cap Multi-Factor Index ETF | 10,427 | 30,714 | 294.56% |
| CSB | VictoryShares U.S. Small Cap High Div Volatility Wtd ETF | 22,199 | 60,539 | 272.71% |
| IAGG | iShares Core International Aggregate Bond ETF | 226,498 | 595,768 | 263.03% |
| DGRE | WisdomTree Emerging Markets Quality Dividend Growth Fund | 30,506 | 77,987 | 255.64% |
| PEJ | Invesco Dynamic Leisure and Entertainment ETF | 11,761 | 27,756 | 236.00% |
| PIE | Invesco DWA Emerging Markets Momentum ETF | 95,451 | 192,643 | 201.82% |
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.
