Weekly ETF Fund Flows: SPY, XLF Leak

By IndexUniverse May 18, 2012, 11:00:00 AM EDT

Investors yanked more than $1.25 billion out of exchange-traded funds in the past week, most of that from developed as well as emerging market equities, as global markets reeled from the newest twists and turns in Europe's ongoing debt crisis.

It's hardly a surprise that the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca:SPY), the world's biggest exchange-traded fund, bled the most assets, with outflows of $1.73 billion in the five trading days ended May 17, according to data compiled by IndexUniverse.

But right behind SPY was the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEArca:XLF), a fitting ETF for the No. 2 slot on IndexUniverse's top redemptions list considering all the concern about Europe's financial sector. Investors pulled just over $1 billion out of XLF.

As things stand, credit ratings on many Spanish banks have been downgraded, and talk has become increasingly explicit about how Greece might find a way to exit the eurozone and its common currency, the euro. The dire possibility has even earned the nickname "Grexit"-a financial market attempt at gallows humor or a sign that Greece's eurozone fate is now a question of "when" and not "if."

Overall, including the market's sharp moves lower over the past week, total assets in U.S.-listed ETFs dropped 3.5 percent in the past week.

The redemptions also included the world's two-biggest funds focused on the developing world:the Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca:VWO) and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (NYSEArca:EEM). VWO had outflows of $532.9 million, while EEM's were $332.4 million.

Even junk bonds got caught in the cross hairs of investor anxiety, with the ETF market's two biggest high-yield corporate debt funds-the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (NYSEArca:HYG) and the SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF (NYSEArca:JNK)-recording redemptions of $285.2 million and $132.8 million, respectively.

Safe Havens

That said, other bond funds became safe havens for crisis-weary investors.

For example, the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (NYSEArca:BND) pulled in $294.2 million in new assets, and the iShares Barclays 1-3 Treasury Bond Fund (NYSEArca:SHY) added $227.9 million.

Also, the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund (NYSEArca:LQD) gathered $290.2 million in fresh assets

Even precious metals-silver at least-attracted investors' attention. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca:SLV) pulled in $163.7 million.

However, gold didn't make it onto IndexUniverse's top 10 funds list.

To the contrary, the iShares Gold Trust (NYSEArca:IAU) was among the least popular ETFs, as investors sold gold earlier in the week, briefly pushing year-to-date price into the red. Flows out of IAU totaled $144.8 million.

The most popular ETF last week was the iShares S&P 500 Index Fund (NYSEArca:IVV), an asymmetrical presence on the creations list considering the broad anti-equities flavor in the markets. IVV pulled in $437 million in new assets.

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Ticker Name Net Flows ($,mm) AUM ($, mm) AUM % Change
IVV iShares S&P 500 437.00 28,069.80 1.58%
BND Vanguard Total Bond Market 294.15 16,228.68 1.85%
LQD iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond 290.20 20,850.94 1.41%
XLP Consumer Staples Select SPDR 237.22 5,679.12 4.36%
SHY iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Treasury Bond 227.93 11,257.63 2.07%
IBB iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology 190.56 1,920.11 11.02%
XLV Health Care Select SPDR 183.79 4,341.49 4.42%
VOO Vanguard S&P 500 173.90 4,118.88 4.41%
SLV iShares Silver Trust 163.72 8,523.73 1.96%
IWM iShares Russell 2000 161.37 13,803.91 1.18%


Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker Name Net Flows ($,mm) AUM ($, mm) AUM % Change
SPY SPDR S&P 500 -1,734.93 92,881.26 -1.83%
XLF Financial Select SPDR -1,003.79 4,970.14 -16.80%
VWO Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets -532.87 47,461.01 -1.11%
AAXJ iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex-Japan -433.10 1,856.95 -18.91%
EEM iShares MSCI Emerging Markets -332.42 33,151.00 -0.99%
HYG iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond -285.22 14,551.29 -1.92%
EWZ iShares MSCI Brazil -163.49 7,126.30 -2.24%
IAU iShares Gold Trust -144.79 8,810.72 -1.62%
VXX iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN -142.01 2,251.57 -5.93%
JNK SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond -132.84 11,051.65 -1.19%


ETF Weekly Daily Flows By Asset Class

Net Flows ($, mm) AUM ($, mm) % of AUM
U.S. Equity -1,456.84 508,997.34 -0.29%
International Equity -1,330.41 256,236.91 -0.52%
U.S. Fixed Income 1,512.76 202,817.79 0.75%
International Fixed Income 161.33 16,286.26 0.99%
Commodities 103.68 104,386.18 0.10%
Currency 22.19 3,173.53 0.70%
Leveraged 168.26 11,898.97 1.41%
Inverse -252.29 20,433.22 -1.23%
Asset Allocation -4.27 1,852.82 -0.23%
Alternatives -183.14 4,720.80 -3.88%
Total: -1,258.74 1,130,803.80 -0.11%


Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds 'gt;$50 mm AUM

Ticker Name Average Volume
(30 Day)
1 Week Average
Volume
% of Average
ACWV iShares MSCI All Country World Minimum Volatility 91,367 2,173,483 475.77%
DGT SPDR Global Dow 8,680 147,273 339.33%
FTY iShares FTSE NAREIT Real Estate 50 15,830 268,369 339.06%
PIZ PowerShares DWA Developed Markets Technical Leaders Portfolio 39,117 618,515 316.24%
BABS SPDR Nuveen Barclays Capital Build America Bond 27,161 395,100 290.94%
EQIN Russell Equity Income 2,022 28,947 286.30%
USMV iShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility 75,281 1,075,898 285.84%
TLH iShares Barclays 10-20 Year Treasury Bond 56,420 798,042 282.89%
MCHI iShares MSCI China 193,238 2,723,981 281.93%
FXS CurrencyShares Swedish Krona 2,451 34,253 279.54%


Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and 'lt;1,000 Shares Traded

Ticker Name Weekly Performance Weekly Volume AUM ($, mm)
CVOL C-Tracks Exchange-Traded Notes on the Citi Volatility 36.36% 476,765 10.94
VIIX VelocityShares VIX Short Term ETN 22.20% 1,473,833 32.32
VIXY ProShares VIX Short-Term 22.16% 4,451,615 190.02
VXX iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN 22.02% 281,481,504 2,251.57
VXBB ETRACS 2-Month S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN 14.60% 2,000 6.27
VXZ iPath S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN 12.77% 2,271,461 246.09
VIXM ProShares VIX Mid-term 12.50% 329,055 117.07
VXDD ETRACS 4-Month S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN 11.72% 1,400 7.37
ZROZ PIMCO 25+ Year Zero Coupon U.S. Treasury 8.53% 186,914 158.40
EDV Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury 7.56% 335,211 200.69
Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and 'lt;1,000 Shares Traded
Ticker Name Weekly Performance Weekly Volume AUM ($, mm)
GREK Global X FTSE Greece 20 -18.57% 182,802 2.06
TSXV Global X S&P/TSX Venture 30 Canada -14.16% 5,225 2.13
VNM Market Vectors Vietnam -14.01% 1,889,056 341.42
URA Global X Uranium -13.49% 1,821,330 138.25
KWT Market Vectors Solar Energy -13.00% 186,890 10.95
EMFN iShares MSCI-Emerging Markets Financials -11.72% 5,866 3.22
SLX Market Vectors Steel -11.31% 352,219 113.47
TAN Guggenheim Solar -11.27% 362,877 53.90
GLDX Global X Gold Explorers -11.06% 536,767 25.02
KOL Market Vectors Coal -10.89% 1,346,788 174.35

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.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.


This article appears in: Investing, ETFs

Referenced Stocks: HYG, IAU, LQD, SHY, XLF



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