Weekly Outflows From US Equity ETFs Despite Record Highs
U.S. equity ETFs registered outflows for a fourth-straight week, but international equity ETFs picked up the slack.
The now-familiar pattern of inflows into international equity ETFs and outflows out of U.S. equity ETFs continued for a fourth-straight week. The latest data from FactSet showed that investors pulled $1.3 billion from their U.S. equity ETF holdings, while adding $6.2 billion to their international equity ETF holdings in the week ending Thursday, May 25.
On net, U.S.-listed ETFs had creations of $7.8 billion during the period, pushing the year-to-date inflows figure to $188.6 billion.
During the week, the U.S. stock market rallied to a record high, with the S&P 500 reaching nearly 2,419 for the first time. As of this writing, the index was up for seven-straight sessions through Friday, recovering all of last week's decline and then some.
Despite the rally to record highs, the latest flows data suggest investors are now more enamored with international stocks than U.S. stocks. They also like fixed income even as the Federal Reserve gears up to potentially hike interest rates next month.
Bargain Buying In EWZ, Big Outflows From GDX
The big, broad equity ETFs continued to pull in most of the new assets. The PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ), with creations of $1.3 billion; the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA), with creations of $754 million; and the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK), with creations of $398 million were a few of the names on the weekly top 10.
Also making the cut was the iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (EWZ), which had inflows of $518 million, as bargain buyers lept into the fund after last week's plunge.
The iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD), with inflows of $824 million, was the only fixed-income product to make an appearance on this week's list.
Meanwhile, on the outflows side, the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) was the biggest standout, with its $878 million worth of redemptions. Performancewise, GDX was essentially flat this week, even as gold prices climbed almost 1.5%.
Other funds to see notable outflows this week were the PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio (SPLV), with redemptions of $594 million; the iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF (IYR), with redemptions of $331 million; the United States Oil Fund (USO), with redemptions of $214 million; and the iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF), with redemptions of $150 million.
For a full list of this week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| QQQ | PowerShares QQQ Trust | 1,276.39 | 51,182.28 | 2.56% |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | 824.47 | 33,605.45 | 2.52% |
| EFA | iShares MSCI EAFE ETF | 754.19 | 75,257.36 | 1.01% |
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 564.38 | 68,184.27 | 0.83% |
| EWZ | iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF | 518.07 | 5,698.97 | 10.00% |
| IEFA | iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 467.37 | 26,542.06 | 1.79% |
| VGK | Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF | 398.23 | 14,318.81 | 2.86% |
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 393.49 | 111,772.34 | 0.35% |
| EZU | iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF | 349.80 | 12,585.50 | 2.86% |
| VTV | Vanguard Value ETF | 349.63 | 30,748.39 | 1.15% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| GDX | VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF | -878.41 | 9,041.32 | -8.86% |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | -734.89 | 35,202.09 | -2.04% |
| SPLV | Powershares S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio | -594.08 | 6,745.84 | -8.09% |
| DIA | SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust | -461.75 | 15,192.21 | -2.95% |
| XLU | Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund | -340.39 | 6,833.76 | -4.74% |
| IYR | iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF | -331.47 | 4,212.69 | -7.29% |
| XLK | Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund | -323.45 | 17,840.49 | -1.78% |
| XLV | Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund | -220.06 | 16,201.33 | -1.34% |
| USO | United States Oil Fund LP | -213.95 | 2,955.95 | -6.75% |
| IEF | iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF | -149.59 | 7,560.84 | -1.94% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | -1,343.99 | 1,631,222.30 | 0.09% |
| International Equity | 6,176.90 | 649,596.86 | 0.45% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 2,433.11 | 463,138.10 | 0.56% |
| International Fixed Income | 596.15 | 49,261.43 | 0.82% |
| Commodities | -210.11 | 63,850.00 | -0.64% |
| Currency | -39.31 | 1,298.50 | -3.02% |
| Leveraged | 492.61 | 27,794.94 | 0.41% |
| Inverse | 109.97 | 17,147.86 | 0.09% |
| Asset Allocation | 111.12 | 7,055.28 | 0.61% |
| Alternatives | -77.10 | 3,739.27 | -2.06% |
| Total: | 7,807.34 | 2,914,109.36 | 0.26% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
| FTGC | First Trust Global Tactical Commodity Strategy Fund | 81,137 | 432,872 | 533.50% |
| PXMV | PowerShares Russell Midcap Pure Value Portfolio | 15,106 | 45,797 | 303.18% |
| FIEU | Credit Suisse FI Enhanced Europe 50 ETN | 2,129 | 5,368 | 252.10% |
| ONEY | SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus | 447 | 904 | 202.21% |
| EQL | Alps Equal Sector Weight ETF | 7,848 | 18,155 | 231.33% |
| IBND | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays International Corporate Bond ETF | 37,659 | 78,892 | 209.49% |
| KCE | SPDR S&P Capital Markets ETF | 4,302 | 8,843 | 205.54% |
| FTLS | First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF | 15,916 | 26,156 | 164.34% |
| FTSM | First Trust Enhanced Short Maturity ETF | 247,125 | 452,067 | 182.93% |
| DBB | PowerShares DB Base Metals Fund | 304,807 | 544,438 | 178.62% |
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.
