YTD Inflows Near $400B Despite Junk Bond Outflows

Investors were encouraged by the passage of the tax reform bill in the House, but remained on edge about the sell-off in junk bonds.

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sumit
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Senior ETF Analyst
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Reviewed by: Sumit Roy
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Edited by: Sumit Roy

Another week, another record for ETF inflows. About $5.4 billion flowed into U.S.-listed ETFs during the week ending Thursday, Nov. 16, according to FactSet, pushing year-to-date inflows to $398 billion.

Encouraged by the passage of the Republican tax reform bill in the House of Representatives, investors added $3.7 billion to U.S. equity ETFs. The positive mood spilled over into international equity ETFs also, which had inflows of $1.6 billion of their own.

However, the week was not without worries. The S&P 500 fell slightly for a second-straight week amid the realization that there is still a lot of work to be done to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the tax bills.

There was also some angst about this month's dip in the junk bond market. ETFs such as the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) hit seven-month lows during the middle of the week before rebounding modestly.

Big Outflows

The junk bond duo had sizable outflows of $348 million and $934 million, respectively, this week.

Also finding themselves on the weekly outflows list were the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ), the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) and the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT).

On the flip side, the PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ) topped the weekly inflows list, followed by the First Trust Technology AlphaDex Fund (FXL) and the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG).

For a full list of this week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below.

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

TickerNameNet Flows ($,mm)AUM ($, mm)AUM % Change
QQQPowerShares QQQ Trust1,326.9158,592.002.32%
FXLFirst Trust Technology AlphaDEX Fund648.451,585.2369.22%
AGGiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF600.4651,730.241.17%
XLFFinancial Select Sector SPDR Fund465.2828,796.571.64%
IVViShares Core S&P 500 ETF452.91134,836.210.34%
XLYConsumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund342.5411,976.362.94%
VEUVanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF337.2222,061.651.55%
USMViShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF326.6514,720.172.27%
XLUUtilities Select Sector SPDR Fund312.408,138.523.99%
IWDiShares Russell 1000 Value ETF286.1438,110.850.76%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

TickerNameNet Flows ($,mm)AUM ($, mm)AUM % Change
SPYSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust-1,453.10246,855.64-0.59%
JNKSPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF-934.4811,660.48-7.42%
FXUFirst Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund-503.68458.33-52.36%
HYGiShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF-348.1218,194.56-1.88%
BKLNPowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio-272.358,351.70-3.16%
VTVVanguard Value ETF-215.0634,458.97-0.62%
HEDJWisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund-206.918,646.74-2.34%
LQDiShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF-203.0238,835.65-0.52%
XOPSPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF-198.032,041.53-8.84%
TLTiShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF-189.737,277.93-2.54%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

 Net Flows ($, mm)AUM ($, mm)% of AUM
U.S. Equity3,683.991,810,632.640.20%
International Equity1,626.42764,749.590.21%
U.S. Fixed Income-361.88514,316.99-0.07%
International Fixed Income143.4455,934.940.26%
Commodities138.5065,791.170.21%
Currency-19.491,311.27-1.49%
Leveraged231.9731,203.390.74%
Inverse-29.0617,315.78-0.17%
Asset Allocation17.908,627.560.21%
Alternatives-65.954,122.58-1.60%
Total:5,365.843,274,005.920.16%

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

TickerNameAverage Volume
(30 Day)
1 Week Average
Volume
% of Average
VBNDVident Core U.S. Bond Strategy ETF37,058146,692395.84%
DBGRXtrackers MSCI Germany Hedged Equity ETF19,02353,128279.28%
GRESIQ Global Resources ETF16,31143,403266.09%
SOCLGlobal X Social Media ETF52,896120,250227.33%
TDTFFlexShares iBoxx 5 Year Target Duration TIPS Index Fund90,568218,545241.30%
FANFirst Trust Global Wind Energy ETF78,916210,054266.17%
JPGBJPMorgan Global Bond Opportunities ETF4,40012,282279.17%
SRETGlobal X SuperDividend REIT ETF28,12764,220228.32%
DBJPXtrackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity ETF521,635999,583191.62%
FMATFidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF66,051151,943230.04%

 

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.

 

Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com, where he has worked for 13 years. He creates a variety of content for the platform, including news articles, analysis pieces, videos and podcasts.

Before joining etf.com, Sumit was the managing editor and commodities analyst for Hard Assets Investor. In those roles, he was responsible for most of the operations of HAI, a website dedicated to education about commodities investing.

Though he still closely follows the commodities beat, Sumit covers a much broader assortment of topics for etf.com, with a particular focus on stock and bond exchange-traded funds.

He is the host of etf.com’s Talk ETFs, a popular video series that features weekly interviews with thought leaders in the ETF industry. Sumit is also co-host of Exchange Traded Fridays, etf.com’s weekly podcast series.

He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys climbing the city’s steep hills, playing chess and snowboarding in Lake Tahoe.