Weekly Outflows For ETFs, ‘XLE’ Sees $1.1B Inflow
While ETFs registered outflows of $2.5 billion, energy ETF assets spike.
Weekly flows for U.S.-listed ETFs continued to reflect this year’s tepid amount of new assets, in sharp contrasts to 2018’s blistering start and finish.
For the week ending Thursday, March 7, ETF saw $2.5 billion in outflows, which takes year-to-date totals down to $18 billion. As of March 15, 2018, ETFs have seen nearly $100 billion in new assets and were headed to second-best year for ETF flows.
No particular asset class stood out in terms of inflows or outflows. U.S. equity inflows were down $1 billion, almost equal to the outflows in U.S. fixed income. International equity ETFs led the asset-class pack, with $244 million in new assets.
Energy ETF ‘XLE’ Gets A Boost
The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) topped the creations list, with $1.16 billion, a nearly 8% increase in total assets under management, as it continues to outperform, rising 14.23% so far this year.
Compare that with the return of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which had a return of 11% in the same time period, and also led outflows this week, with $2 billion flowing out. However, that amount is less than 1% of the total AUM for SPY, which has $257 billion in assets under management (AUM). XLE now has $14.6 billion in AUM.
Another ETF that saw strong weekly inflows was the Xtrackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF (ASHR), which registered nearly $300 million in inflows, a 14.5% jump in total AUM.
Mixed Bag Of Outflows
Equity ETFs, long-term, short-term and junk bond funds and even gold—the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), which saw almost $750 million in outflows—peppered the top 10 list, with no real trend other than investors seem to be moving around on the fixed-income space.
Percentagewise, the Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Index ETF (VGSH) saw the biggest outflows, with 14.5% of its assets leaving the $4.8 billion fund. On the other side of the bond curve, the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), had the second-most redemptions by percent, 8.3%, for that $10 billion fund.
For a full list of this week’s top inflows and outflows, see the tables below.
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| XLE | Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund | 1,163.31 | 14,660.24 | 7.94% |
| BSV | Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF | 669.58 | 23,282.44 | 2.88% |
| SHY | iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 643.03 | 19,726.46 | 3.26% |
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 617.37 | 159,601.54 | 0.39% |
| VNQ | Vanguard Real Estate ETF | 455.05 | 33,046.15 | 1.38% |
| IEFA | iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 350.14 | 57,664.37 | 0.61% |
| ASHR | Xtrackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF | 294.20 | 2,035.20 | 14.46% |
| VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 270.89 | 107,395.87 | 0.25% |
| JNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF | 266.31 | 8,386.22 | 3.18% |
| USFR | WisdomTree Floating Rate Treasury Fund | 193.11 | 2,263.20 | 8.53% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -2,077.95 | 257,507.03 | -0.81% |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | -1,378.53 | 41,243.19 | -3.34% |
| TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | -862.58 | 10,369.78 | -8.32% |
| HYG | iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -793.96 | 14,540.93 | -5.46% |
| GLD | SPDR Gold Trust | -746.39 | 31,679.12 | -2.36% |
| VGSH | Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Index ETF | -694.74 | 4,785.27 | -14.52% |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | -686.48 | 67,877.27 | -1.01% |
| XLY | Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund | -596.36 | 12,216.01 | -4.88% |
| XLI | Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund | -577.75 | 10,125.93 | -5.71% |
| EFA | iShares MSCI EAFE ETF | -386.59 | 64,998.82 | -0.59% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | -1,100.27 | 2,094,758.00 | -0.05% |
| International Equity | 244.74 | 812,651.82 | 0.03% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | -990.02 | 616,081.95 | -0.16% |
| International Fixed Income | 64.21 | 73,980.31 | 0.09% |
| Commodities | -799.85 | 63,586.01 | -1.26% |
| Currency | -204.44 | 1,494.37 | -13.68% |
| Leveraged | 23.78 | 36,443.40 | 0.07% |
| Inverse | 144.16 | 12,063.89 | 1.20% |
| Asset Allocation | -4.68 | 9,357.30 | -0.05% |
| Alternatives | 46.47 | 4,605.19 | 1.01% |
| Total: | -2,575.90 | 3,725,022.24 | -0.07% |
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | -12,329.09 | 2,094,758.00 | -0.59% |
| International Equity | 6,308.08 | 812,651.82 | 0.78% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 16,974.66 | 616,081.95 | 2.76% |
| International Fixed Income | 7,018.52 | 73,980.31 | 9.49% |
| Commodities | -476.19 | 63,586.01 | -0.75% |
| Currency | -302.82 | 1,494.37 | -20.26% |
| Leveraged | -1,391.20 | 36,443.40 | -3.82% |
| Inverse | 2,528.96 | 12,063.89 | 20.96% |
| Asset Allocation | -551.11 | 9,357.30 | -5.89% |
| Alternatives | 467.51 | 4,605.19 | 10.15% |
| Total: | 18,247.32 | 3,725,022.24 | 0.49% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
| DIVC | C-Tracks ETN - Miller/Howard Strategic Dividend Reinvestor | 21 | 150 | 713.11% |
| IQIN | IQ 500 International ETF | 5,925 | 41,354 | 697.99% |
| GBF | iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF | 27,183 | 176,613 | 649.73% |
| PEJ | Invesco Dynamic Leisure and Entertainment ETF | 23,752 | 141,810 | 597.04% |
76,538 | 362,568 | 473.71% | ||
| TDTF | FlexShares iBoxx 5-Year Target Duration TIPS Index Fund | 292,740 | 1,294,601 | 442.24% |
125,182 | 543,322 | 434.03% | ||
| WPS | iShares International Developed Property ETF | 371,591 | 1,596,996 | 429.77% |
| BKF | iShares MSCI BRIC ETF | 389,738 | 1,506,983 | 386.67% |
| CNYA | iShares MSCI China A ETF | 49,135 | 182,645 | 371.72% |
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.
