Weekly ETF Inflow Streak Since Election Continues

The post-election surge of inflows into ETFs slowed this week, but the winning streak continued.

The pace of inflows into U.S.-listed ETFs moderated this week, but remained in positive territory. In total, ETFs took in $3.4 billion worth of inflows in the week ending Thursday, March 9, according to FactSet. That means ETFs have now seen 18-straight weeks of positive inflows―a streak that began in earnest after the presidential election in early November. 

Unlike last week, not all segments of the ETF market saw buying. U.S. equity ETFs continued to be hot, garnering $2 billion worth of inflows, even as the S&P 500 backed off modestly from its record highs. The index fell as much as 1.5% from all-time-high levels of 2,401 this week. 

International equity ETFs also were in favor, with $2.7 billion worth of inflows. On the other hand, U.S. fixed-income ETFs saw outflows of $1.5 billion, as Treasurys sold off hard in anticipation of a Fed rate hike next week. The U.S. 10-year yield leapt from 2.48% to as high as 2.62% during the week (bond prices and yields move inversely).

Another segment to lose favor was commodity ETFs, with outflows of $888 million. International fixed-income ETFs had modest inflows of $107 million.

IVV AUM Tops $100 Billion
The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) topped the weekly inflows list while hitting a major milestone. The fund had $2.4 billion worth of inflows, which was enough to propel total assets in the fund to more than $100 billion. That makes IVV the second ETF in history to top that big, round number since the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) did it in 2007.

After IVV, the iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF (IYR) took in the most inflows, at $663 million. The iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) was another winner, with inflows of $445 million.

In terms of fixed income, two such funds made the top 10. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) and the Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund (VCSH) had inflows of more than $290 million each, despite the sell-off in bond prices this week. 

Junk Bonds & Gold Lose Assets
On the outflows side, SPY was the biggest loser, with redemptions of $4.1 billion. That was followed by the largest junk bond ETF, the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG), which had outflows of $2.2 billion. 

Crude oil prices fell below $50/barrel for the first time this year, spooking investors in energy-heavy junk bonds. 

The SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) was another junk-bond ETF to see outflows, to the tune of $536 million, while the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD), which holds higher-quality bonds, saw outflows of $605 million.

Meanwhile, two physically backed gold ETFs also saw sizable outflows this week, as prices for the yellow metal briefly slipped below $1,200 for the first time since January, ahead of the likely Fed rate hike. The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and the iShares Gold Trust (IAU) had redemptions of $432 million and $216 million, respectively.

For a full list of this week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

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.