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.
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 $934 million, respectively, this week.
Also finding themselves on the weekly outflows list were the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ), the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) and the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT).
On the flip side, the PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ) topped the weekly inflows list, followed by the First Trust Technology AlphaDex Fund (FXL) and the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG).
For a full list of this week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below.
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| QQQ | PowerShares QQQ Trust | 1,326.91 | 58,592.00 | 2.32% |
| FXL | First Trust Technology AlphaDEX Fund | 648.45 | 1,585.23 | 69.22% |
| AGG | iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | 600.46 | 51,730.24 | 1.17% |
| XLF | Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund | 465.28 | 28,796.57 | 1.64% |
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 452.91 | 134,836.21 | 0.34% |
| XLY | Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund | 342.54 | 11,976.36 | 2.94% |
| VEU | Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF | 337.22 | 22,061.65 | 1.55% |
| USMV | iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF | 326.65 | 14,720.17 | 2.27% |
| XLU | Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund | 312.40 | 8,138.52 | 3.99% |
| IWD | iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF | 286.14 | 38,110.85 | 0.76% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | -1,453.10 | 246,855.64 | -0.59% |
| JNK | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF | -934.48 | 11,660.48 | -7.42% |
| FXU | First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund | -503.68 | 458.33 | -52.36% |
| HYG | iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -348.12 | 18,194.56 | -1.88% |
| BKLN | PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio | -272.35 | 8,351.70 | -3.16% |
| VTV | Vanguard Value ETF | -215.06 | 34,458.97 | -0.62% |
| HEDJ | WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund | -206.91 | 8,646.74 | -2.34% |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF | -203.02 | 38,835.65 | -0.52% |
| XOP | SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF | -198.03 | 2,041.53 | -8.84% |
| TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | -189.73 | 7,277.93 | -2.54% |
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | 3,683.99 | 1,810,632.64 | 0.20% |
| International Equity | 1,626.42 | 764,749.59 | 0.21% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | -361.88 | 514,316.99 | -0.07% |
| International Fixed Income | 143.44 | 55,934.94 | 0.26% |
| Commodities | 138.50 | 65,791.17 | 0.21% |
| Currency | -19.49 | 1,311.27 | -1.49% |
| Leveraged | 231.97 | 31,203.39 | 0.74% |
| Inverse | -29.06 | 17,315.78 | -0.17% |
| Asset Allocation | 17.90 | 8,627.56 | 0.21% |
| Alternatives | -65.95 | 4,122.58 | -1.60% |
| Total: | 5,365.84 | 3,274,005.92 | 0.16% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) | 1 Week Average Volume | % of Average |
| VBND | Vident Core U.S. Bond Strategy ETF | 37,058 | 146,692 | 395.84% |
| DBGR | Xtrackers MSCI Germany Hedged Equity ETF | 19,023 | 53,128 | 279.28% |
| GRES | IQ Global Resources ETF | 16,311 | 43,403 | 266.09% |
| SOCL | Global X Social Media ETF | 52,896 | 120,250 | 227.33% |
| TDTF | FlexShares iBoxx 5 Year Target Duration TIPS Index Fund | 90,568 | 218,545 | 241.30% |
| FAN | First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF | 78,916 | 210,054 | 266.17% |
| JPGB | JPMorgan Global Bond Opportunities ETF | 4,400 | 12,282 | 279.17% |
| SRET | Global X SuperDividend REIT ETF | 28,127 | 64,220 | 228.32% |
| DBJP | Xtrackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity ETF | 521,635 | 999,583 | 191.62% |
| FMAT | Fidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF | 66,051 | 151,943 | 230.04% |
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.
