Weekly Flows Show Flight To Safety
Investors bought into high-quality fixed income this past week.
The latest look into ETF asset flows suggests investors are flocking to safety and quality.
Not only was U.S. fixed income the most in-demand asset class the week ended Thursday, Sept. 13, funds like the iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) and the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) saw some of the week’s biggest net creations.
LQD raked in a net of $756 million, making it the No. 1 asset gatherer of the week, while TLT saw its total assets jump 6%.
In aggregate, investors poured a net of $4.2 billion into U.S.-listed ETFs during the past week, more than half of which landed into bond strategies. So far in 2018, U.S. fixed-income ETFs have attracted more than $57 billion in net inflows—a 10% growth in total assets since the beginning of the year.
U.S. equity ETFs, meanwhile, remain the most popular asset class this year, with net creations now totaling $73.8 billion, even if in the past week, demand for U.S. stock funds fell short of $1 billion in fresh net assets.
Some of that demand showed no preference for a specific tier of market capitalization, with funds like the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH) and the iShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF (IJR) all found among the week’s top 10 creations.
Year-to-date, U.S.-listed ETFs have seen net creations totaling $180 billion. The overall U.S. ETF market continues to hover around $3.7 trillion in total assets.
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | 756.35 | 34,399.74 | 2.25% |
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 623.38 | 163,880.98 | 0.38% |
| TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | 514.09 | 9,200.49 | 5.92% |
| IJH | iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF | 508.83 | 50,931.61 | 1.01% |
| IEFA | iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 483.18 | 57,695.54 | 0.84% |
| VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 353.53 | 105,710.77 | 0.34% |
| VT | Vanguard Total World Stock ETF | 344.01 | 12,251.78 | 2.89% |
| IJR | iShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF | 333.05 | 47,384.22 | 0.71% |
| SPIB | SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Corporate Bond ETF | 306.08 | 3,775.43 | 8.82% |
| XLP | Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund | 286.71 | 9,785.60 | 3.02% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -2,092.26 | 270,031.14 | -0.77% |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | -1,469.41 | 70,912.51 | -2.03% |
| HYG | iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -616.89 | 16,150.38 | -3.68% |
| XLE | Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund | -368.55 | 17,429.72 | -2.07% |
| EFA | iShares MSCI EAFE ETF | -356.45 | 69,454.75 | -0.51% |
| EELV | Invesco S&P Emerging Markets Low Volatility ETF | -251.08 | 318.40 | -44.09% |
| SCZ | iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF | -245.65 | 10,196.12 | -2.35% |
| XLI | Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -213.15 | 13,332.24 | -1.57% |
| SOXX | iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF | -211.36 | 1,601.90 | -11.66% |
| AAXJ | iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF | -206.93 | 3,841.05 | -5.11% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 971.92 | 2,156,219.51 | 0.05% |
| International Equity | -436.51 | 774,611.35 | -0.06% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 2,835.78 | 570,534.12 | 0.50% |
| International Fixed Income | 500.52 | 63,943.84 | 0.78% |
| Commodities | -137.69 | 58,894.36 | -0.23% |
| Currency | -14.72 | 1,079.04 | -1.36% |
| Leveraged | 745.73 | 37,409.81 | 1.99% |
| Inverse | -335.82 | 12,594.23 | -2.67% |
| Asset Allocation | 27.74 | 9,453.29 | 0.29% |
| Alternatives | 66.23 | 4,690.48 | 1.41% |
| Total: | 4,223.18 | 3,689,430.02 | 0.11% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 73,810.58 | 2,156,219.51 | 3.42% |
| International Equity | 35,244.09 | 774,611.35 | 4.55% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 57,842.46 | 570,534.12 | 10.14% |
| International Fixed Income | 8,508.78 | 63,943.84 | 13.31% |
| Commodities | -1,792.05 | 58,894.36 | -3.04% |
| Currency | -108.03 | 1,079.04 | -10.01% |
| Leveraged | 3,840.84 | 37,409.81 | 10.27% |
| Inverse | 2,134.15 | 12,594.23 | 16.95% |
| Asset Allocation | 657.73 | 9,453.29 | 6.96% |
| Alternatives | 499.92 | 4,690.48 | 10.66% |
| Total: | 180,638.46 | 3,689,430.02 | 4.90% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
| QARP | Xtrackers Russell 1000 U.S. QARP ETF | 17,843 | 98,596 | 552.58% |
| HYUP | Xtrackers High Beta High Yield Bond ETF | 13 | 55 | 420.54% |
| XSOE | WisdomTree Emerging Markets ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund | 47,434 | 195,101 | 411.31% |
| DBEM | Xtrackers MSCI Emerging Markets Hedged Equity ETF | 21,736 | 80,892 | 372.16% |
| URTH | iShares MSCI World ETF | 26,907 | 94,815 | 352.38% |
| ONEO | SPDR Russell 1000 Momentum Focus | 9,611 | 26,977 | 280.67% |
| DEW | WisdomTree Global High Dividend Fund | 7,032 | 19,647 | 279.38% |
| PGF | Invesco Financial Preferred ETF | 257,037 | 702,195 | 273.19% |
| LOWC | SPDR MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF | 2,481 | 6,590 | 265.57% |
| RBUS | Nationwide Risk-Based U.S. Equity ETF | 624 | 1,558 | 249.59% |
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and <1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| MJ | ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF | 8.30% | 4,007,975 | 579.19 |
| PXJ | Invesco Dynamic Oil & Gas Services ETF | 5.89% | 109,470 | 33.29 |
| SGGB | iPath Series B Bloomberg Sugar Subindex Total Return ETN | 5.49% | 49,535 | 27.66 |
| XES | SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF | 5.30% | 4,422,126 | 371.50 |
| OIH | VanEck Vectors Oil Services ETF | 4.35% | 28,996,051 | 1,202.73 |
| VNM | VanEck Vectors Vietnam ETF | 4.35% | 694,976 | 363.84 |
| IEZ | iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF | 4.12% | 294,449 | 311.41 |
| RJN | Elements Rogers International Commodity Index-Energy TR ETN | 4.08% | 66,478 | 311.41 |
| OILB | iPath Series B S&P GSCI Crude Oil ETN | 4.01% | 5,212 | 105.13 |
| USL | United States 12 Month Oil Fund LP | 3.99% | 54,889 | 80.49 |
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.
