Weekly ETF Flows See Net Loss of $4.2B
Equity-focused ETFs were hit yet again as investors sought to de-risk portfolios.
Investors pulled nearly $4.2 billion in assets out of U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds in the week ending Sept. 9, marking the second consecutive week of net outflows for the industry.
Last week, U.S. stocks recovered some of their decline, as both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100 indexes added nearly 4% despite the Federal Reserve’s hawkish messaging. While the market may have rejoiced at the break of nearly three consecutive weeks of declines, equity-focused ETFs saw $3.7 billion in outflows in the week ending Sept. 9.
Top shedders included the SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF (SPYG), which recorded just over $1 billion in outflows, the technology focused Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and the iShares S&P 500 Value ETF (IVE).
Meanwhile, flows into U.S. fixed income markets remained strong, seeing $2.7 billion of inflows, up nearly 80% from the week prior. ETFs focused on Treasury bills and high yield bonds took center stage as investors attempted to rebalance their portfolios amid heightened fear of recession.
“Markets latched on to this view that this is peak inflation. In terms of flows, people use quite simply what’s been a pretty pronounced recovery to de-risk,” said Doug Fincher, portfolio manager at Ionic Capital Management.
He added that all eyes will remain on the hotly anticipated consumer price index that is set to release tomorrow, as well as the announcement of the central bank’s next rate hike on Sept. 21 as indicators for future flows.
Hours ago, the NY Federal Reserve showed that U.S. consumer inflation expectations for August slid to 5.7%, down from the expected 6.2%, according to data platform Trading Economics. Meanwhile, last Thursday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell emphasized the central bank’s commitment to battle decades-high inflation.
“I can assure you that my colleagues and I are strongly committed to this project and we will keep at it until the job is done,” Powell said in a Q&A session presented by the Cato Institute, leading investors to expect yet another 75 basis point hike next week.
For a full list of last week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SHV | iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF | 1,897.99 | 22,731.29 | 8.35% |
| BIL | SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF | 982.85 | 20,230.27 | 4.86% |
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 738.60 | 268,454.49 | 0.28% |
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 563.11 | 300,399.17 | 0.19% |
| VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 467.21 | 265,391.42 | 0.18% |
| USMV | iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF | 414.72 | 28,749.92 | 1.44% |
| SHY | iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 345.31 | 25,788.87 | 1.34% |
| VXUS | Vanguard Total International Stock ETF | 334.58 | 46,367.99 | 0.72% |
| SPTL | SPDR Portfolio Long Term Treasury ETF | 333.69 | 5,559.41 | 6.00% |
| VTEB | Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF | 281.36 | 18,358.33 | 1.53% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | -1,455.21 | 163,786.67 | -0.89% |
| SPYG | SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF | -1,007.12 | 13,617.48 | -7.40% |
| XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -925.26 | 33,036.30 | -2.80% |
| ACWI | iShares MSCI ACWI ETF | -909.82 | 16,384.99 | -5.55% |
| EEM | iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF | -660.16 | 24,102.43 | -2.74% |
| XLE | Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund | -593.43 | 36,323.13 | -1.63% |
| IJS | iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF | -428.33 | 6,787.84 | -6.31% |
| IJT | iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF | -403.09 | 5,183.03 | -7.78% |
| BSV | Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF | -403.01 | 38,469.51 | -1.05% |
| IVE | iShares S&P 500 Value ETF | -387.85 | 23,869.67 | -1.62% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | -3,700.75 | 3,875,651.90 | -0.10% |
| International Equity | -1,723.42 | 1,089,560.11 | -0.16% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 2,738.09 | 1,104,445.46 | 0.25% |
| International Fixed Income | 56.00 | 138,182.10 | 0.04% |
| Commodities | -1,049.70 | 135,287.61 | -0.78% |
| Currency | -236.31 | 4,074.47 | -5.80% |
| Leveraged | 126.84 | 48,519.87 | 0.26% |
| Inverse | -480.74 | 24,750.23 | -1.94% |
| Asset Allocation | -4.20 | 16,717.64 | -0.03% |
| Alternatives | 94.48 | 8,343.69 | 1.13% |
| Total: | -4,179.73 | 6,445,533.08 | -0.06% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 167,557.80 | 3,875,651.90 | 4.32% |
| International Equity | 63,968.14 | 1,089,560.11 | 5.87% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 108,904.75 | 1,104,445.46 | 9.86% |
| International Fixed Income | 6,009.26 | 138,182.10 | 4.35% |
| Commodities | 4,762.75 | 135,287.61 | 3.52% |
| Currency | 1,612.21 | 4,074.47 | 39.57% |
| Leveraged | 18,117.63 | 48,519.87 | 37.34% |
| Inverse | 11,313.12 | 24,750.23 | 45.71% |
| Asset Allocation | 318.72 | 16,717.64 | 1.91% |
| Alternatives | 1,818.18 | 8,343.69 | 21.79% |
| Total: | 384,382.55 | 6,445,533.08 | 5.96% |
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| CTEX | ProShares S&P Kensho Cleantech ETF | 6.29% | 12,034 | 6.77 |
| TAN | Invesco Solar ETF | 6.16% | 4,845,177 | 3,097.76 |
| VCLN | Virtus Duff & Phelps Clean Energy ETF | 5.89% | 1,080 | 3.83 |
| CRPT | First Trust SkyBridge Crypto Industry and Digital Economy ETF | 5.51% | 18,790 | 26.89 |
| XDNA | Kelly CRISPR & Gene Editing Technology ETF | 5.48% | 9,704 | 6.64 |
| CTEC | Global X CleanTech ETF | 5.18% | 55,322 | 128.95 |
| CNRG | SPDR S&P Kensho Clean Power ETF | 4.98% | 41,810 | 363.50 |
| ACES | ALPS Clean Energy ETF | 4.87% | 100,071 | 844.65 |
| ICLN | iShares Global Clean Energy ETF | 4.85% | 12,478,289 | 5,815.58 |
| FRNW | Fidelity Clean Energy ETF | 4.76% | 31,528 | 41.51 |
Top 10 YTD Performers
| Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
| TADS | The Active Dividend Stock ETF | 17.40% | 0.00% | 41.51 |
| NVMZ | TrueShares Structured Outcome ETF - November | 14.66% | 41.51 | |
| SULR | SmartETFs Sustainable Energy II ETF | 8.64% | 41.51 | |
| HGER | Harbor All-Weather Inflation Focus ETF | -1.19% | 63.29 | |
| VEGA | AdvisorShares STAR Global Buy-Write ETF | 1.36% | 38.29 | |
| DBV | Invesco DB G10 Currency Harvest Fund | 0.54% | 37.17 | |
| HDG | ProShares Hedge Replication ETF | 0.48% | 41.32 | |
| WTMF | WisdomTree Managed Futures Strategy Fund | 0.49% | 141.42 | |
| QMN | IQ Hedge Market Neutral Tracker ETF | 0.32% | 7.61 | |
| FTLS | First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF | 1.09% | 512.47 |
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.
