Credit: Shutterstock photoCinthia Murphy, Staff Writer for ETF.com
When it comes to markets, the first few days of 2018 have not offered new direction as much as they have intensified key trends from 2017.
The stock market continues to march higher, with the S&P 500 already tallying gains of some 4% year-to-date in what’s the index’s best start to a year since 2003.
Volatility, meanwhile, remains historically low—as in, single-digits low. And cryptocurrencies are still gaining momentum, be it from investor interest in bitcoin and newcomers such as Ripple, as well as from ongoing news on the challenges issuers are facing to offer bitcoin access in an ETF wrapper. This past week, we saw a slew of bitcoin ETFs hit major snags in the regulatory pipeline.
ETF Flows Impress
Another trend still in place is blockbuster demand for U.S.-listed ETFs. In the past week alone, investors poured in an impressive $18.7 billion, bringing year-to-date inflows to $17.7 billion, according to FactSet data. The most recent demand centered on U.S. stock funds reflecting investor enthusiasm over tax cuts, corporate profits and economic growth in the short term. (The tables below show the one-week asset flows for the week ended Jan. 11).
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class
Barclays Shakes Up ETN Lineup
In two announcements last week, Barclays said it’s delisting 50 ETNs, effective April 12, and it’s also launching 15 new-and-improved replacements for the original commodity iPath ETNs—a “B Series,” according to the company.
The ETNs being delisted are among the first ETNs ever, launched about a decade ago. The new replacements will be a lot cheaper, having a daily investor fee of 0.45% versus 0.75% for the previous ones.
Vanguard’s Buckley Speaks Up
In a rare interview, new Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley took on the issue of whether indexing is getting too big, and is negatively influencing markets. He argues that’s not the case, “not by a long shot.”
Among his reasons: “Our research shows that index funds make up less than 5% of daily trading volume. As such, there’s considerable price discovery and liquidity provided by active strategies.”
Vanguard, known as the pioneer in index investing, is actually now working to bring to market actively managed ETFs in a move that Buckley links to the company’s open and thoughtful approach to innovation and Vanguard’s key belief in active—"low-cost, long-term and disciplined active.”
Vanguard manages some $5 trillion in assets today, and Buckley took the helm of the firm officially this year.
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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 Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
