Weekly ETF Outflows Total $21B
Net ETF inflows for 2019 are still on track to be the second-largest on record.
U.S.-listed ETFs registered net outflows of $21.1 billion this week, reversing some of last week's record $51.7 billion haul. Some of the big gyrations in flows over the past two weeks are heartbeat trades, which help fund managers wash out capital gains from low-basis stock positions. You can usually spot these as large inflows that are followed by equally large outflows a few days later.
For example, the iShares S&P Value ETF (IVE) and the iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF (IVW) had inflows of $4.3 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively, last week. This week, they had outflows of $4.3 billion and $3.4 billion.
But while heartbeat trades account for some of the action in flows over the past couple of weeks, they don't account for everything. On net, $30.6 billion has flowed into U.S.-listed ETFs over the past two weeks, a sizable sum, as investors grow increasingly bullish on equities. The S&P 500 is now up 32% this year, the best return since 2013's 32.4% gain and just a smidge away from 1997's 33.3% increase.
A recent trade deal with China, better economic data and a Fed on hold have all combined to push U.S. stocks to record highs. In that context, it's no surprise that investors are putting more money to work in ETFs. Following this week's net outflows, year-to-date net inflows dropped to $321.4 billion. That still leaves them ahead of last year's pace of $308.9 billion, with three trading days left to account for.
If year-to-date inflows end up higher than $315.4 billion, 2019 will likely go down as the year with the second-largest annual inflows ever, only behind 2017's $476.1 billion haul.
For a full list of this week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | 3,448.50 | 303,596.04 | 1.14% |
| AGG | iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | 605.84 | 68,872.68 | 0.88% |
| XLE | Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund | 506.47 | 11,123.36 | 4.55% |
| VEA | Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF | 503.48 | 78,079.89 | 0.64% |
| VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 443.76 | 137,639.94 | 0.32% |
| GLD | SPDR Gold Trust | 433.19 | 42,762.49 | 1.01% |
| VNQ | Vanguard Real Estate ETF | 367.39 | 36,406.23 | 1.01% |
| XOP | SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF | 319.22 | 2,787.52 | 11.45% |
| EWZ | iShares MSCI Brazil ETF | 308.86 | 10,885.36 | 2.84% |
| IEFA | iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 299.08 | 73,702.59 | 0.41% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| IVE | iShares S&P 500 Value ETF | -4,254.62 | 17,820.32 | -23.88% |
| IVW | iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF | -3,441.10 | 24,678.81 | -13.94% |
| RPG | Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF | -1,670.43 | 2,729.19 | -61.21% |
| IUSV | iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF | -1,538.69 | 7,022.11 | -21.91% |
| IJJ | iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF | -1,215.07 | 6,620.56 | -18.35% |
| IJS | iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF | -1,150.82 | 6,788.35 | -16.95% |
| SPYV | SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Value ETF | -1,124.24 | 4,962.48 | -22.65% |
| XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -1,067.21 | 25,177.17 | -4.24% |
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | -1,037.32 | 130,170.60 | -0.80% |
| SPYG | SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF | -1,022.44 | 5,341.19 | -19.14% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | -26,500.47 | 2,528,458.36 | -1.05% |
| International Equity | 2,896.68 | 889,095.46 | 0.33% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 1,638.85 | 754,650.51 | 0.22% |
| International Fixed Income | 478.05 | 89,540.08 | 0.53% |
| Commodities ETFs | 284.09 | 80,296.96 | 0.35% |
| Currency | -31.30 | 1,315.12 | -2.38% |
| Leveraged | -96.47 | 40,195.98 | -0.24% |
| Inverse | 134.97 | 11,660.23 | 1.16% |
| Asset Allocation | 58.04 | 10,694.84 | 0.54% |
| Alternatives | 47.42 | 4,597.48 | 1.03% |
| Total: | -21,090.14 | 4,410,505.03 | -0.48% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 129,042.02 | 2,528,458.36 | 5.10% |
| International Equity | 30,914.64 | 889,095.46 | 3.48% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 133,376.66 | 754,650.51 | 17.67% |
| International Fixed Income | 20,219.27 | 89,540.08 | 22.58% |
| Commodities ETFs | 7,863.63 | 80,296.96 | 9.79% |
| Currency | -474.42 | 1,315.12 | -36.07% |
| Leveraged | -7,197.12 | 40,195.98 | -17.91% |
| Inverse | 5,901.89 | 11,660.23 | 50.62% |
| Asset Allocation | 538.54 | 10,694.84 | 5.04% |
| Alternatives | 1,216.80 | 4,597.48 | 26.47% |
| Total: | 321,401.91 | 4,410,505.03 | 7.29% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
| INKM | SPDR SSGA Income Allocation ETF | 28,114 | 107,308 | 381.70% |
| XSOE | WisdomTree Emerging Markets ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund | 72,744 | 163,086 | 224.19% |
| GTO | Invesco Total Return Bond ETF | 30,785 | 81,955 | 266.22% |
| FVAL | Fidelity Value Factor ETF | 30,908 | 58,612 | 189.64% |
| MXDU | Nationwide Maximum Diversification U.S. Core Equity ETF | 1,206 | 2,086 | 172.94% |
| PBP | Invesco S&P 500 BuyWrite ETF | 45,500 | 89,464 | 196.62% |
| PJUL | Innovator S&P 500 Power Buffer ETF - July | 18,647 | 29,481 | 158.10% |
| GSEW | Goldman Sachs Equal Weight U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF | 25,502 | 40,810 | 160.02% |
| DBB | Invesco DB Base Metals Fund | 69,269 | 95,205 | 137.44% |
| BDCL | ETRACS 2xLeveraged Long Wells Fargo Business Development Company Index ETN | 59,217 | 117,276 | 198.04% |
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| SILJ | ETFMG Prime Junior Silver Miners ETF | 10.57% | 1,522,876 | 140.18 |
| SIL | Global X Silver Miners ETF | 7.96% | 946,765 | 561.36 |
| GDXJ | VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF | 7.54% | 47,267,788 | 4,960.36 |
| SLVP | iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF | 7.45% | 382,922 | 104.22 |
| INR | Market Vectors-Indian Rupee/USD ETN | 6.89% | 7,494 | 0.48 |
| GOAU | U.S. Global GO Gold and Precious Metal Miners ETF | 6.71% | 265,720 | 46.50 |
| GDX | VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF | 6.36% | 140,116,119 | 12,432.86 |
| SGDM | Sprott Gold Miners ETF | 6.06% | 99,999 | 188.50 |
| RING | iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF | 6.00% | 418,289 | 285.88 |
| GOEX | Global X Gold Explorers ETF | 5.94% | 56,221 | 42.97 |
Top 10 YTD Performers
| Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
| BBC | Virtus LifeSci Biotech Clinical Trials ETF | 70.47% | 5.31% | 41.65 |
| TAN | Invesco Solar ETF | 67.76% | 0.33% | 443.65 |
| XSD | SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF | 67.06% | 0.92% | 508.90 |
| SMH | VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF | 66.00% | 0.69% | 1,411.33 |
| FTXL | First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETF | 63.98% | 0.45% | 43.67 |
| SOXX | iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF | 63.55% | 0.48% | 2,413.04 |
| PBW | Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF | 60.60% | 0.78% | 215.09 |
| SILJ | ETFMG Prime Junior Silver Miners ETF | 55.75% | 10.57% | 140.18 |
| SBIO | ALPS Medical Breakthroughs ETF | 55.03% | 2.22% | 231.56 |
| PSI | Invesco Dynamic Semiconductors ETF | 54.26% | 0.67% | 220.02 |
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.
