Weekly Outflows Continue, ‘ASHR' Hit Hard
Net weekly ETF outflows totaled $6.9 billion, including a hefty $458 million outflow from China ETF ‘ASHR.’
Another wave of selling in the stock market (and buying in the bond market) compelled ETF investors to take chips off the table this week. On net, they took $6.9 billion out of U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, May 30, according to the latest data from FactSet. That pushed year-to-date inflows down to $66.9 billion, well behind last year’s pace of $123 billion.
Trade remained front and center for investors this week, as neither the U.S. nor China showed signs of bending in their ongoing trade war. On Friday, trade tensions expanded when President Trump threatened to levy tariffs on Mexico.
By week’s end, the S&P 500 was about 7% below its all-time high, spooked by trade war talk and the plunge in Treasury yields, which some suggested was warning of an impending recession. The benchmark 10-year yield spiked as low as 2.14%, a level not seen in nearly two years.
Thanks to safe-haven inflows, U.S. fixed income ETFs escaped with net creations of $455 million for the week.
Fixed Income ETFs Top Inflows List
In terms of individual ETFs, the low-cost iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) topped the daily inflows list, but a healthy number of safe fixed income ETFs also found themselves there.
The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF), the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND), the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG), the iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEI) and the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) were all in the top 10.
ASHR & Junk Bonds Lose Favor
On the other side of the spectrum, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and the iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG), a junk bond ETF, were the biggest flows losers.
The SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) also shed assets, but the most surprising fund on the outflows list may be the Xtrackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF (ASHR)—not because it lost assets (it is a China ETF, after all), but because it had outflows of $458 million, equal to 31% of its assets under management.
For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 562.86 | 171,308.48 | 0.33% |
IEF | iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 516.95 | 14,222.82 | 3.63% |
BND | Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF | 366.98 | 39,825.87 | 0.92% |
MTUM | iShares Edge MSCI U.S.A. Momentum Factor ETF | 337.50 | 8,731.34 | 3.87% |
ITOT | iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF | 282.30 | 19,556.00 | 1.44% |
SUSL | iShares ESG MSCI USA Leaders ETF | 282.10 | 1,109.30 | 25.43% |
XLK | Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund | 275.01 | 20,233.70 | 1.36% |
AGG | iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | 273.61 | 61,742.82 | 0.44% |
IEI | iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 235.94 | 7,227.20 | 3.26% |
TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | 218.25 | 13,566.51 | 1.61% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -5,043.33 | 252,551.48 | -2.00% |
HYG | iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -1,017.66 | 14,699.49 | -6.92% |
XLV | Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund | -789.75 | 17,056.58 | -4.63% |
JNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF | -727.77 | 8,248.84 | -8.82% |
DIA | SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust | -603.29 | 20,045.89 | -3.01% |
ASHR | Xtrackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF | -457.67 | 1,474.34 | -31.04% |
IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | -374.83 | 39,842.64 | -0.94% |
EZU | iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF | -351.60 | 6,255.13 | -5.62% |
QUAL | iShares Edge MSCI U.S.A. Quality Factor ETF | -274.17 | 10,505.05 | -2.61% |
BKLN | Invesco Senior Loan ETF | -259.56 | 4,669.94 | -5.56% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | -5,955.85 | 2,112,801.95 | -0.28% |
International Equity | -1,386.29 | 791,336.04 | -0.18% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 454.55 | 651,452.84 | 0.07% |
International Fixed Income | 36.36 | 73,377.31 | 0.05% |
Commodities | -61.18 | 60,660.81 | -0.10% |
Currency | 20.57 | 1,502.57 | 1.37% |
Leveraged | -164.78 | 34,744.26 | -0.47% |
Inverse | 244.19 | 12,506.74 | 1.95% |
Asset Allocation | -22.20 | 9,381.40 | -0.24% |
Alternatives | -41.82 | 4,596.12 | -0.91% |
Total: | -6,876.45 | 3,752,360.02 | -0.18% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
U.S. Equity | 14,794.24 | 2,112,801.95 | 0.70% |
International Equity | 8,322.92 | 791,336.04 | 1.05% |
U.S. Fixed Income | 40,272.77 | 651,452.84 | 6.18% |
International Fixed Income | 5,654.36 | 73,377.31 | 7.71% |
Commodities | -2,915.34 | 60,660.81 | -4.81% |
Currency | -280.66 | 1,502.57 | -18.68% |
Leveraged | -1,775.44 | 34,744.26 | -5.11% |
Inverse | 2,748.28 | 12,506.74 | 21.97% |
Asset Allocation | -493.30 | 9,381.40 | -5.26% |
Alternatives | 570.02 | 4,596.12 | 12.40% |
Total: | 66,897.85 | 3,752,360.02 | 1.78% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
ONEO | SPDR Russell 1000 Momentum Focus | 3,213 | 17,797 | 553.99% |
DXGE | WisdomTree Germany Hedged Equity Fund | 13,659 | 56,426 | 413.10% |
IGN | iShares North American Tech-Multimedia Networking ETF | 61,028 | 236,998 | 388.34% |
PKW | Invesco BuyBack Achievers ETF | 332,102 | 1,180,112 | 355.35% |
ULVM | USAA MSCI USA Value Momentum Blend Index ETF | 16,061 | 57,908 | 360.55% |
QARP | Xtrackers Russell 1000 U.S. Quality at a Reasonable Price ETF | 13,186 | 49,288 | 373.81% |
GLTR | Aberdeen Standard Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares ETF | 16,332 | 59,245 | 362.75% |
VFMF | Vanguard U.S. Multifactor ETF | 6,507 | 23,239 | 357.16% |
SUSL | iShares ESG MSCI USA Leaders ETF | 1,374 | 4,722 | 343.73% |
DXJS | WisdomTree Japan Hedged SmallCap Equity Fund | 9,628 | 27,903 | 289.80% |
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.