Weekly ETF Fund Flows: VXX Leads ' Bleeds

By IndexUniverse April 27, 2012, 11:00:00 AM EDT

The iPath S&P 500 VIX-Short-Term Futures ETN (NYSEArca:VXX) was last week's third-most-popular exchange-traded product last week, but that didn't stop it from losing a bunch of money too.

VXX pulled in $259.2 million for the trading week ended Thursday, April 26, making it the third-most-popular ETP after the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca:SPY) and the iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (NYSEArca:IWM). SPY led the week, gathering $1.22 billion, while IWM added $648.1 million

But VXX returned -11.7 percent, making it last week's fifth-worst-performing ETP, behind four other volatility-related products. At the top of IndexUniverse's  "Bottom 10 Weekly Performers" list was the Citigroup-sponsored C-Tracks Exchange Traded Notes on the Citi Volatility Index ETN, which lost 16.71 percent. In all, eight of the 10 securities on the biggest decliners list were volatility related.

That dismal showing is no surprise when it comes to volatility-related ETPs. Given a harrowing day of trade, they spike and perform beautifully, but on most days when trade is fairly smooth, they lose value and, over time, perform abysmally. But they remain quite popular as tactical insurance-type tools to manage volatility at a time when investors are bracing for more macroeconomic volatility.

Overall, net flows were positive to the tune of $3.52 billion, helping lift total U.S.-listed ETF assets to more than $1.201 trillion, according to data compiled by IndexUniverse.

Best Performers

Natural gas funds were meanwhile among the week's best performers-a sign perhaps of a period of consolidation rather than a real turnaround for a market that has cratered over the past few years amid fairly steady demand that can't keep up with surging supplies.

The futures-based United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca:UNG) was the third-best performer last week, returning 6.88 percent.

Among the other gas-related funds on the best-performers list were:

  • The equities-based First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas ETF (NYSEArca:FCG), which gained 4.84 percent
  • The futures-based United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca:UNL), which gained 4.61 percent
  • The futures-based Teucrium Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca:NAGS), which gained 4.52 percent

At the top of the best-performers list was the iShares Dow Jones U.S Home Construction Index Fund (NYSEArca:ITB), which jumped 8.57 percent.

It was followed by the Market Vectors Egypt ETF (NYSEArca:EGPT), which gained 7.95 percent.

Biggest Redemptions

The least popular fund in the week was the Nasdaq 100 fund, the PowerShares QQQ Trust (NasdaqGM:QQQ). Its outflows totaled $490.5 million.

The No. 2 fund on IndexUniverse's "Top 10 Redemptions" list was the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEArca:XRT), which bled $231.4 million.

In the No. 3 spot was SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca:GLD), the physical bullion ETF. It had outflows of $221.5 million, but it's still the second-biggest U.S.-listed ETF, with assets totaling $68.13 billion.

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Ticker Name Net Flows ($,mm) AUM ($, mm) AUM % Change
SPY SPDR S&P 500 1,122.38 102,641.14 1.11%
IWM iShares Russell 2000 648.13 15,410.51 4.39%
VXX iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN 259.17 1,711.77 17.84%
HYG iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond 234.38 14,934.72 1.59%
XLV Health Care Select SPDR 181.22 4,319.60 4.38%
XLP Consumer Staples Select SPDR 174.16 5,442.25 3.31%
IVV iShares S&P 500 153.64 30,170.61 0.51%
GDX Market Vectors Gold Miners 146.35 8,101.81 1.84%
LQD iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond 138.71 20,390.86 0.68%
VEA Vanguard MSCI EAFE 129.85 8,464.34 1.56%


Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker Name Net Flows ($,mm) AUM ($, mm) AUM % Change
QQQ PowerShares QQQ -490.49 33,261.29 -1.45%
XRT SPDR S&P Retail -231.37 619.43 -27.19%
GLD SPDR Gold -221.47 68,125.61 -0.32%
XLB Materials Select SPDR -171.88 2,093.52 -7.59%
FAS Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3x -158.28 1,482.40 -9.65%
DIA SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average Trust -132.61 11,563.25 -1.13%
IYR iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate -128.74 3,831.13 -3.25%
SSO ProShares Ultra S&P 500 -98.13 1,557.36 -5.93%
TNA Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 3x -97.69 737.79 -11.69%
MCHI iShares MSCI China -62.51 414.87 -13.09%


ETF Weekly Daily Flows By Asset Class

Net Flows ($, mm) AUM ($, mm) % of AUM
U.S. Equity 2,004.75 548,230.15 0.37%
International Equity 412.01 285,898.20 0.14%
U.S. Fixed Income 1,167.19 197,923.20 0.59%
International Fixed Income 301.72 15,816.28 1.91%
Commodities -253.81 112,269.81 -0.23%
Currency 97.78 3,351.29 2.92%
Leveraged -374.62 13,130.59 -2.85%
Inverse -111.34 19,615.97 -0.57%
Asset Allocation 12.72 1,108.93 1.15%
Alternatives 262.89 4,078.10 6.45%
Total: 3,519.29 1,201,422.51 0.29%


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

Ticker Name Average Volume
(30 Day)
1 Week Average
Volume
% of Average
HYMB SPDR Nuveen S&P High Yield Municipal Bond 63,720 939,115 294.76%
DTH WisdomTree DEFA Equity Income 32,770 468,185 285.74%
PZD PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio 12,970 181,702 280.20%
ACWV iShares MSCI All Country World Minimum Volatility 4,245 59,400 279.86%
MLPN Credit Suisse Cushing 30 MLP ETN 69,327 947,497 273.34%
DIM WisdomTree International MidCap Dividend 7,087 93,043 262.58%
XPH SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals 46,881 598,915 255.50%
PWB PowerShares Dynamic Large Cap Growth Portfolio 68,621 828,578 241.49%
DLS WisdomTree International SmallCap Dividend 26,153 309,344 236.56%
BSJC Guggenheim BulletShares 2012 High Yield Corporate Bond 22,538 265,930 235.99%


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

Ticker Name Weekly Performance Weekly Volume AUM ($, mm)
ITB iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction 8.57% 8,232,348 642.75
EGPT Market Vectors Egypt 7.95% 155,581 46.62
UNG United States Natural Gas 6.88% 55,313,683 819.90
JJT iPath Dow Jones-UBS Tin Total Return ETN 5.59% 28,979 69.60
FBT First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology 5.26% 338,968 252.11
FCG First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas 4.84% 2,246,875 364.59
XBI SPDR S&P Biotech 4.80% 962,919 525.55
XOP SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production 4.79% 26,427,868 981.34
UNL United States 12 Month Natural Gas 4.61% 281,015 28.15
NAGS Teucrium Natural Gas Fund 4.52% 16,800 1.59
Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and 'lt;1,000 Shares Traded
Ticker Name Weekly Performance Weekly Volume AUM ($, mm)
CVOL C-Tracks Exchange-Traded Notes on the Citi Volatility -16.71% 82,704 7.63
VXBB ETRACS 2-Month S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN -12.28% 1,100 5.17
VIXY ProShares VIX Short-Term -11.84% 2,410,316 128.46
VIIX VelocityShares VIX Short Term ETN -11.82% 872,086 22.75
VXX iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN -11.70% 200,450,899 1,711.77
VXZ iPath S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN -6.55% 2,023,569 220.29
VIXM ProShares VIX Mid-term -6.26% 124,635 104.73
VXCC ETRACS 3-Month S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN -5.75% 1,100 6.42
INXX EGShares India Infrastructure -5.49% 75,380 55.44
EEH ELEMENTS Linked to SPECTRUM Large Cap U.S. Momentum ETN -5.11% 5,967 1.16

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.

Permalink | 'copy; Copyright 2009 IndexUniverse LLC. All rights reserved

Don't forget to check IndexUniverse.com's ETF Data section.

Copyright ® 2012 IndexUniverse LLC . All Rights Reserved.




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: EGPT, FCG, ITB, IWM, VXX



Latest News Video






Most Active by Volume:

Company Last Sale Change Net / %
S $ 7 0.32  4.37%
PFE $ 29.10 0.30  1.02%
BAC $ 13.19 0.08  0.60%
MU $ 13.97 0.22  1.60%
SIRI $ 3.37 0.03  0.88%
GE $ 23.98 0.35  1.44%
QQQ $ 72.76 0.82  1.11%
ELN $ 14.15 0.37  2.69%