Investors piled into bond funds in the past week, as stock markets around the world turned skittish amid stronger and stronger views that Europe’s fiscal mess and slowing growth in China were already putting the brakes on U.S. growth.
IndexUniverse’s “Top 10 Creations” list included a number of marquee bond funds, including the $15 billion iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund (HYG) and the Pimco Total Return ETF (BOND). The popular iShares junk bond ETF pulled in $234.4 million in fresh assets, while Bill Gross’ $1.94 billion BOND added $138.4 million.
Bond funds in general gathered more than $1 billion in new assets, while U.S. equities suffered outflows of about $689 million. Overall, net inflows were just $119.1 million, and total U.S.-listed ETF assets fell to $1.171 trillion in the week ended Thursday, July 12 from about $1.171 trillion a week earlier, according to data compiled by IndexUniverse.
That means the stock market’s decline was behind the drop in total assets and, indeed, the Dow Jones industrial average’s 323-point, or 2.5 percent, drop just about matched the percentage-point drop in ETF assets.
Investors seem to be accepting that with much of southern Europe already in a recession and China’s growth slowing, stocks are probably heading lower in the near term. IndexUniverse’s weekly flows survey didn’t capture the effects of China’s report that second-quarter growth fell to 7.6 percent in the second quarter from 8.1 percent in the first quarter, but the data did validate investor suspicions.
Not surprisingly, the SPDR S'P 500 ETF (SPY) was the least popular fund in the week, bleeding $2.27 billion in assets. It’s the biggest ETF in the world, and is frequently at the top of any flows survey we do here.
Gold ETF flows meanwhile presented a mixed picture, with the iShares Gold Trust (IAU) adding $142.1 million in new assets, while the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) suffered redemptions of $476.7 million.
Investors have been flocking to dollar-denominated assets, such as Treasurys, which has hurt gold prices. As the dollar rises, the price of gold, which is measured in dollars, is likely to fall. Spot gold prices have fallen about 3 percent in the past five days.
That said, if central banks around the world ramp up their easy-money policies in the form of interest rate cuts and/or more quantitative easing, many analysts believe the dollar will weaken and gold will once again shine as the safe haven of choice.
Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| OEF | iShares S'P 100 | 692.91 | 4,258.09 | 19.44% |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 | 550.74 | 15,555.09 | 3.67% |
| DIA | SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average Trust | 539.34 | 11,257.89 | 5.03% |
| HYG | iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond | 234.42 | 15,026.34 | 1.58% |
| LQD | iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond | 200.69 | 23,208.06 | 0.87% |
| VEA | Vanguard MSCI EAFE | 185.43 | 8,157.30 | 2.33% |
| VTV | Vanguard Value | 154.16 | 5,870.05 | 2.70% |
| IAU | iShares Gold Trust | 142.07 | 9,192.26 | 1.57% |
| EMB | iShares JPMorgan USD Emerging Markets Bond | 138.50 | 5,002.13 | 2.85% |
| BOND | PIMCO Total Return | 138.38 | 1,944.41 | 7.66% |
Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)
| Ticker | Name | Net Flows ($,mm) | AUM ($, mm) | AUM % Change |
| SPY | SPDR S'P 500 | -2,272.71 | 103,826.87 | -2.14% |
| XLI | Industrial Select SPDR | -676.59 | 2,717.30 | -19.94% |
| GLD | SPDR Gold | -476.71 | 63,521.49 | -0.74% |
| XLE | Energy Select SPDR | -252.81 | 6,998.70 | -3.49% |
| XLY | Consumer Discretionary Select SPDR | -240.67 | 3,136.72 | -7.13% |
| XLK | Technology Select SPDR | -205.20 | 8,823.65 | -2.27% |
| VWO | Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets | -204.41 | 49,640.22 | -0.41% |
| IEF | iShares Barclays 7-10 Year Treasury Bond | -185.12 | 4,912.65 | -3.63% |
| IWF | iShares Russell 1000 Growth | -142.41 | 15,339.97 | -0.92% |
| USO | United States Oil | -125.80 | 1,243.55 | -9.19% |
ETF Weekly Daily Flows By Asset Class
| Net Flows ($, mm) | AUM ($, mm) | % of AUM | |
| U.S. Equity | -689.35 | 540,107.61 | -0.13% |
| International Equity | -43.66 | 256,751.85 | -0.02% |
| U.S. Fixed Income | 612.27 | 211,640.15 | 0.29% |
| International Fixed Income | 420.32 | 18,039.56 | 2.33% |
| Commodities | -487.93 | 104,173.36 | -0.47% |
| Currency | -32.04 | 2,939.69 | -1.09% |
| Leveraged | 97.35 | 12,193.11 | 0.80% |
| Inverse | 198.14 | 19,648.79 | 1.01% |
| Asset Allocation | 9.79 | 1,889.95 | 0.52% |
| Alternatives | 34.26 | 4,061.46 | 0.84% |
| Total: | 119.14 | 1,171,445.53 | 0.01% |
Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds '$50 mm AUM
| Ticker | Name | Average Volume (30 Day) |
1 Week Average Volume |
% of Average |
| IYJ | iShares Dow Jones U.S. Industrial | 109,005 | 2,313,556 | 424.49% |
| FXN | First Trust Energy AlphaDEX | 140,457 | 2,592,070 | 369.09% |
| XSD | SPDR S'P Semiconductor | 56,467 | 966,820 | 342.44% |
| RYT | Guggenheim S'P Equal Weight Technology | 18,455 | 311,957 | 338.07% |
| FXR | First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX | 164,287 | 2,635,739 | 320.87% |
| PBW | PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio | 237,692 | 3,633,273 | 305.71% |
| MCHI | iShares MSCI China | 154,448 | 2,357,844 | 305.33% |
| TILT | FlexShares Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt Index | 15,439 | 234,920 | 304.31% |
| IYE | iShares Dow Jones U.S. Energy | 319,848 | 4,667,969 | 291.89% |
| TOK | iShares MSCI Kokusai | 5,499 | 74,550 | 271.15% |
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and '1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| TAGS | Teucrium Agricultural | 16.08% | 1,866 | 2.68 |
| DPU | PowerShares DB Commodity Long ETN | 13.31% | 1,582 | 6.06 |
| USMI | United States Metals Index Fund | 12.32% | 4,530 | 2.42 |
| DIRT | iPath Pure Beta Agriculture ETN | 8.98% | 1,469 | 3.00 |
| LEDD | iPath Pure Beta Lead ETN | 6.80% | 2,270 | 0.69 |
| ONG | iPath Pure Beta Energy ETN | 5.82% | 2,500 | 2.29 |
| ZROZ | PIMCO 25+ Year Zero Coupon U.S. Treasury | 4.68% | 100,774 | 179.99 |
| EDV | Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury | 4.59% | 111,441 | 213.92 |
| UGEM | EGShares Utilities GEMS | 4.29% | 30,202 | 2.62 |
| CAFE | iPath Pure Beta Coffee ETN | 4.14% | 3,800 | 1.40 |
Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse Funds and '1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker | Name | Weekly Performance | Weekly Volume | AUM ($, mm) |
| KOL | Market Vectors Coal | -10.65% | 771,455 | 164.29 |
| RING | iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners | -10.00% | 30,265 | 28.51 |
| PXQ | PowerShares Dynamic Networking Portfolio | -9.88% | 222,117 | 53.60 |
| PKOL | PowerShares Global Coal Portfolio | -9.45% | 10,376 | 9.35 |
| PSAU | PowerShares Global Gold and Precious Metals Portfolio | -9.18% | 6,232 | 30.24 |
| GDXJ | Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners | -9.15% | 14,377,015 | 1,970.61 |
| COPX | Global X Copper Miners | -8.95% | 105,437 | 25.68 |
| GDX | Market Vectors Gold Miners | -8.87% | 76,420,870 | 7,590.42 |
| KWT | Market Vectors Solar Energy | -8.83% | 6,452 | 9.12 |
| GLDX | Global X Gold Explorers | -8.78% | 208,841 | 27.91 |
Top 10 YTD Performers
| Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
| XIV | VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short Term ETN | 83.12 | 1.46 | 257.81 |
| SVXY | ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures | 81.01 | 0.84 | 33.23 |
| AAVX | ETRACS Daily Short 1-Month S'P 500 VIX Futures ETN | 77.57 | -0.72 | 15.39 |
| BIB | ProShares Ultra NASDAQ Biotech | 53.46 | -4.55 | 26.52 |
| BBVX | ETRACS Daily Short 2-Month S'P 500 VIX Futures ETN | 49.46 | -0.73 | 14.35 |
| RETL | Direxion Daily Retail Bull 3X Shares | 49.43 | -4.24 | 9.07 |
| DRN | Direxion Daily Real Estate Bull 3x | 46.34 | -1.15 | 94.18 |
| IVOP | iPath Inverse January 2021 S'P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | 43.67 | 3.71 | 3.29 |
| ITLT | PowerShares DB 3X Italian Treasury Bond Futures ETN | 43.56 | 0.60 | 31.42 |
| BDCL | ETRACS 2X Leveraged Long Wells Fargo Business Development Company ETN | 42.93 | -2.10 | 44.98 |
Bottom 10 YTD Performers
| Ticker | Name | YTD Performance | Weekly Performance | AUM ($, mm) |
| UVXY | ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures | -88.46 | -3.66 | 277.12 |
| TVIX | VelocityShares Daily 2X VIX Short Term ETN | -87.51 | -5.25 | 274.91 |
| CVOL | C-Tracks Exchange-Traded Notes on the Citi Volatility | -68.99 | -1.42 | 6.61 |
| VIXY | ProShares VIX Short-Term | -60.22 | -1.57 | 136.82 |
| VXX | iPath S'P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | -60.20 | -1.79 | 1,697.65 |
| VIIX | VelocityShares VIX Short Term ETN | -60.05 | -1.51 | 35.16 |
| VXAA | ETRACS 1-Month S'P 500 VIX Futures ETN | -58.08 | -14.52 | 3.60 |
| NUGT | Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X | -55.14 | -24.64 | 197.73 |
| BOIL | ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Natural Gas | -54.35 | -5.98 | 63.54 |
| TVIZ | VelocityShares Daily 2X VIX Mid Term ETN | -53.60 | -6.22 | 4.23 |
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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