Credit: Shutterstock photoDrew Voros
ETF.com Editor-in-Chief
For the month of September, $28.2 billion flowed into U.S.-listed ETFs during the month, according to the latest data from FactSet. That follows inflows of $29.9 billion for the month of August.
Year-to-date inflows now stand at $332.1 billion, a fresh annual record.
One of the most noteworthy ETFs to see interest during September was the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT). Its $2.5 billion worth of inflows catapulted total assets under management for the fund to $9.5 billion, an increase of 26%.
TLT was popular even as interest rates increased on the back of relatively hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. In a speech at the end of the month, Yellen said it could be risky to move "too gradually" in hiking interest rates. Markets now imply there is a 70% chance that the Fed raises rates at the December central bank meeting.
Another popular ETF in September, despite falling prices, was the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD). Rising rates and a climbing dollar sent gold prices down $70/oz from their September peaks, but investors still added $2.4 billion to GLD.
Profit-Taking In Inverse VIX, Oil ETFs
Taking a look at the other side of the ledger, the ETF to see the largest outflows was the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY). SPY's outflows of $10.7 billion were well ahead of any other fund.
The ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (SVXY) and the VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN (XIV) were two other losers on the list, with outflows of $583 million and $419 million, respectively.
Bitcoin Futures ETFs Hit Snag
VanEck has pulled the plug on its proposed bitcoin ETF for now, at the request of regulators. In a filing submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission this week, the firm said SEC staff asked VanEck to wait until bitcoin futures are actually a reality.
The ETF first detailed in a filing submitted in August—the VanEck Vectors Bitcoin Strategy ETF—would invest in bitcoin futures, which are not yet available for investment.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange, which owns ETF.com, is planning to launch cash-settled bitcoin futures in the coming months, but no official launch date has yet been announced. The futures, which would be supported by market data from the Gemini digital asset exchange, could come to market as soon as Q4 or early 2018, according to the CBOE.
Bitcoin options have already been approved by the CFTC, but they too have yet to launch. LedgerX is expected to bring them to market soon.
Currently, there are no bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. Earlier this year, the SEC denied various requests for bitcoin ETFs to launch, such as the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust (COIN).
VanEck isn’t the only issuer to have put in registration futures-based bitcoin ETFs this year. Rex ETFs has also filed for a long/short pair of futures-based bitcoin ETFs, the REX Bitcoin Strategy ETF and REX Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which will both be actively managed.
ProShares, too, put into registration this week a pair of bitcoin ETFs based on bitcoin futures, one the long ProShares Bitcoin ETF and the inverse version, the ProShares Short Bitcoin ETF.
Both Rex and ProShares will most likely follow VanEck’s lead and withdraw their filings, as they wait for the futures contracts to launch.
Drew Voros can be reached at dvoros@etf.com
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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.
