Weekly ETF Outflows Hit $3.7B

Despite stock market gains, ETF demand sees rare retreat.

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sumit
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Senior ETF Analyst
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Reviewed by: Sumit Roy
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Edited by: Sumit Roy

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)

TickerNameNet Flows ($,mm)AUM ($, mm)AUM % Change
VCSHVanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF2,859.7723,182.9212.34%
VCITVanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF1,788.0420,688.008.64%
MBBiShares MBS ETF889.7813,712.696.49%
IEMGiShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF650.1454,348.651.20%
GLDSPDR Gold Trust500.7933,310.731.50%
EMBiShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF434.6016,117.582.70%
USMViShares Edge MSCI Min Vol U.S.A. ETF334.9820,707.871.62%
TLTiShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF298.439,738.623.06%
IJRiShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF225.6440,912.840.55%
TIPiShares TIPS Bond ETF219.4021,549.921.02%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

TickerNameNet Flows ($,mm)AUM ($, mm)AUM % Change
BSVVanguard Short-Term Bond ETF-3,119.6024,129.46-12.93%
BIVVanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF-1,464.4511,523.18-12.71%
HYGiShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF-807.8013,915.23-5.81%
XLFFinancial Select Sector SPDR Fund-544.9623,788.55-2.29%
XLEEnergy Select Sector SPDR Fund-501.4313,271.78-3.78%
VEAVanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF-486.8867,775.35-0.72%
VYMVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF-470.0621,785.39-2.16%
ACWXiShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF-467.024,044.56-11.55%
QQQInvesco QQQ Trust-464.7163,266.33-0.73%
IEFAiShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF-457.6054,433.15-0.84%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

 Net Flows ($, mm)AUM ($, mm)% of AUM
U.S. Equity-4,118.311,985,669.82-0.21%
International Equity-492.57773,429.09-0.06%
U.S. Fixed Income62.13605,375.780.01%
International Fixed Income460.6868,501.330.67%
Commodities 654.1864,759.261.01%
Currency-32.281,625.70-1.99%
Leveraged-185.2932,923.48-0.56%
Inverse75.5612,354.990.61%
Asset Allocation-109.439,428.37-1.16%
Alternatives-53.935,197.51-1.04%
Total:-3,739.253,559,265.33-0.11%

Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)

 Net Flows ($, mm)AUM ($, mm)% of AUM
U.S. Equity-13,882.921,985,669.82-0.70%
International Equity3,787.36773,429.090.49%
U.S. Fixed Income10,627.13605,375.781.76%
International Fixed Income2,094.7868,501.333.06%
Commodities 1,326.4364,759.262.05%
Currency-178.671,625.70-10.99%
Leveraged-797.0432,923.48-2.42%
Inverse1,813.1712,354.9914.68%
Asset Allocation-228.929,428.37-2.43%
Alternatives142.275,197.512.74%
Total:4,703.583,559,265.330.13%

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

TickerNameAverage Volume
(30 Day)
1 Week Average
Volume
% of Average
HSRTHartford Short Duration ETF2281,347591.08%
GIGBGoldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF59,423342,289576.02%
VXXBiPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN1,143,2614,036,456353.07%
HOLDAdvisorShares Sage Core Reserves ETF2,93910,340351.82%
PSCPrincipal U.S. Small-Cap Multi-Factor Index ETF10,42730,714294.56%
CSBVictoryShares U.S. Small Cap High Div Volatility Wtd ETF22,19960,539272.71%
IAGGiShares Core International Aggregate Bond ETF226,498595,768263.03%
DGREWisdomTree Emerging Markets Quality Dividend Growth Fund30,50677,987255.64%
PEJInvesco Dynamic Leisure and Entertainment ETF11,76127,756236.00%
PIEInvesco DWA Emerging Markets Momentum ETF95,451192,643201.82%

 

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.

Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com, where he has worked for 13 years. He creates a variety of content for the platform, including news articles, analysis pieces, videos and podcasts.

Before joining etf.com, Sumit was the managing editor and commodities analyst for Hard Assets Investor. In those roles, he was responsible for most of the operations of HAI, a website dedicated to education about commodities investing.

Though he still closely follows the commodities beat, Sumit covers a much broader assortment of topics for etf.com, with a particular focus on stock and bond exchange-traded funds.

He is the host of etf.com’s Talk ETFs, a popular video series that features weekly interviews with thought leaders in the ETF industry. Sumit is also co-host of Exchange Traded Fridays, etf.com’s weekly podcast series.

He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys climbing the city’s steep hills, playing chess and snowboarding in Lake Tahoe.

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