ETF Inflows Eclipse $715B YTD

More than $26 billion of fresh inflows on the week pushed the year-to-date record higher.

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Reviewed by: Dan Mika
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Edited by: Dan Mika

The U.S. ETF industry has added more than $715 billion in assets over the course of 2021 so far after reaching the watermark point earlier this week.

U.S.-listed ETFs gained just under $26.5 billion in inflows in the period between Oct. 22 and Oct. 28, according to ETF.com data provider FactSet.

The U.S. ETF industry has now gained just shy of $719 billion year-to-date, and manages just under $6.93 trillion in assets overall.

Broad Equities Rally

Broad vanilla index funds dominated inflows during the period as corporate earnings continued to beat expectations despite the headwind of inflation and another surge in COVID-19 cases in the U.S. during the third quarter.

The S&P 500 flirted with a new intraday high on Tuesday, and appears set to reach a fresh closing high on Friday. Three of the top 10 funds for inflows on the week that follow the S&P 500 saw more than $12.1 billion alone.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) led all ETFs in the period, with a gargantuan $8.5 billion in inflows compared to the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which came in second, with about $2 billion in new flows.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) added $1.97 billion, while competitor Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) added $1.7 billion. The SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) also appeared among the top-10-gaining ETFs, with a little more than $1 billion in new assets.

Corporate Bonds Hit Hard

Investment-grade corporate bonds saw deep outflows during the period, with the iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Bond ETF (LQD) and the iShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (IGSB) losing $1.4 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.

LQD has lost a net total of $2.5 billion to outflows this month, while IGSB has lost just shy of $1.5 billion, as fears of a federal debt default and ongoing inflation likely played a role in the sell-offs.

Corporate bond spreads also increased by 5 basis points from late September into mid-October, which likely added salt to the macroeconomic wound.

On the other end, the iShares Fallen Angels USD Bond ETF (FALN) added nearly $1.2 billion in assets during the week, for a 25 percentage point gain in its overall AUM. Fallen angels are junk bonds that were lowered from investment-grade status.

Levered Plays Lose Steam

The leveraged ETF class saw $2.2 billion in outflows in the week, a steep drop-off from the $1.17 billion in inflows gained in the week prior.

The ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) accelerated in outflows, with investors pulling $949.6 million from the ETF. TQQQ was briefly a darling during the volatile early days of October, when dip-buyers sought to buy tech exposure at a discount.

The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3x Shares (FAS) also appeared among the 10 largest outflows on the week, with almost $464 million pulled, but that appears to be caused by a second half of a heartbeat trade that began last week.

For a full list of this week’s top ETF 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 8,488.61 312,252.73 2.72%
QQQ Invesco QQQ Trust 2,005.72 198,285.46 1.01%
SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust 1,970.94 411,269.66 0.48%
VOO Vanguard S&P 500 ETF 1,704.64 264,794.37 0.64%
FALN iShares Fallen Angels USD Bond ETF 1,174.44 4,656.53 25.22%
SDY SPDR S&P Dividend ETF 1,020.46 20,627.42 4.95%
NUGO Nuveen Growth Opportunities ETF 1,003.00 1,658.27 60.48%
USMV iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF 996.70 28,899.24 3.45%
TIP iShares TIPS Bond ETF 772.47 36,121.92 2.14%
VCSH Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF 622.44 42,740.12 1.46%

 

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker Name Net Flows ($,mm) AUM ($, mm) AUM % Change
LQD iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF -1,410.49 38,424.68 -3.67%
IGSB iShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF -1,291.08 23,587.68 -5.47%
BBJP JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF -1,071.86 8,056.94 -13.30%
TQQQ ProShares UltraPro QQQ -949.60 17,122.40 -5.55%
XLF Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund -760.15 44,672.40 -1.70%
IXN iShares Global Tech ETF -568.76 5,484.21 -10.37%
VLUE iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF -547.83 15,275.94 -3.59%
XLE Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund -490.94 27,147.13 -1.81%
FAS Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3x Shares -463.72 3,480.26 -13.32%
IXG iShares Global Financials ETF -447.15 2,907.01 -15.38%

 

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

  Net Flows ($, mm) AUM ($, mm) % of AUM
U.S. Equity 23,025.87 4,116,920.40 0.56%
International Equity 1,165.22 1,313,592.28 0.09%
U.S. Fixed Income 3,200.07 1,095,586.73 0.29%
International Fixed Income 667.40 149,469.83 0.45%
Commodities 199.08 140,174.99 0.14%
Currency 59.04 3,138.78 1.88%
Leveraged -2,209.51 68,625.84 -3.22%
Inverse 139.45 12,592.59 1.11%
Asset Allocation 121.31 19,142.89 0.63%
Alternatives 79.79 7,118.73 1.12%
Total: 26,447.73 6,926,363.05 0.38%

 

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

  Net Flows ($, mm) AUM ($, mm) % of AUM
U.S. Equity 352,720.78 4,116,920.40 8.57%
International Equity 181,199.07 1,313,592.28 13.79%
U.S. Fixed Income 141,963.85 1,095,586.73 12.96%
International Fixed Income 29,584.41 149,469.83 19.79%
Commodities -3,706.39 140,174.99 -2.64%
Currency 1,339.10 3,138.78 42.66%
Leveraged 1,977.52 68,625.84 2.88%
Inverse 6,225.14 12,592.59 49.43%
Asset Allocation 4,497.99 19,142.89 23.50%
Alternatives 3,189.90 7,118.73 44.81%
Total: 718,991.37 6,926,363.05 10.38%

 

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

Ticker Name Weekly Performance Weekly Volume AUM ($, mm)
VCAR Simplify Volt RoboCar Disruption and Tech ETF 12.02% 127,171 2.86
UNG United States Natural Gas Fund LP 11.26% 43,034,783 546.16
GAZ iPath Series B Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN 10.59% 163,524 15.98
HYDR Global X Hydrogen ETF 6.86% 235,294 20.43
RAYS Global X Solar ETF 6.76% 8,323 2.69
TAN Invesco Solar ETF 6.50% 10,016,952 3,752.43
UNL United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund LP 6.35% 126,484 18.97
HJEN Direxion Hydrogen ETF 6.08% 262,644 39.74
HDRO Defiance Next Gen H2 ETF 5.25% 291,438 58.42
CTEC Global X CleanTech ETF 5.22% 204,680 178.09

 

Top 10 YTD Performers

Ticker Name YTD Performance Weekly Performance AUM ($, mm)
BDRY Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF 260.52% -8.45% 75.14
URNM North Shore Global Uranium Mining ETF 120.72% -4.93% 875.92
FCG First Trust Natural Gas ETF 120.26% -0.64% 509.71
PXE Invesco Dynamic Energy Exploration & Production ETF 117.10% -1.09% 145.35
UNG United States Natural Gas Fund LP 116.74% 11.26% 546.16
JJT iPath Series B Bloomberg Tin Subindex Total Return ETN 111.13% -5.61% 16.29
GAZ iPath Series B Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN 109.72% 10.59% 15.98
PXI Invesco DWA Energy Momentum ETF 98.95% -1.09% 95.02
UNL United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund LP 96.18% 6.35% 18.97
PSCE Invesco S&P SmallCap Energy ETF 96.18% -1.92% 141.87

 

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.

Dan Mika is a reporter for etf.com. He has previously covered business for the Ames Tribune and Cedar Rapids Gazette in Iowa, and BizWest Media in Fort Collins, Colorado. Dan holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Truman State University.