XLF Witnesses Inflows of $828 Million
Financial ETFs across the Globe See Bearish Trends
Fund flows
ETF investors added $683 million to the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) during the month of November. In December so far, investors have poured $828 million into XLF on expectations of a rate hike. During the week ended December 11, 2015, investors added $199 million to XLF. Year-to-date, the ETF has seen outflows of $802 million.
In the last three months, XLF has generated 1.4%. In comparison, the iShares MSCI Europe Financials ETF (EUFN) and the Global X China Financials ETF (CHIX) have generated returns of -7.4% and -3.3%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Wisdom Tree Japan Hedged Financials ETF (DXJF) has lost 3.7%, while the iShares Emerging Markets ETF has lost 5.7%.
Institutional investors holdings
13F filings of major institutional asset managers for the third quarter of 2015 give a mixed picture for the ETF.
In 3Q15, trade activity by 13F filers displayed a 7.6% reduction in aggregate shares held by institutional investors and hedge funds. Among the 580 13F filers holding the stock, 200 funds reduced their exposures to XLF, while 69 funds sold all their holdings of XLF. However, 57 funds created new positions and 231 funds increased their exposures to XLF.
Major institutional holders such as Nomura (N), Passport Capital, Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), and BNP Paribas increased their exposures to XLF in the third quarter. Among these, Passport Capital added fresh holdings of XLF to their portfolio.
Institutions that significantly reduced their exposures were UBS, Moore Capital, Morgan Stanley (MS), and Gruss Capital. Among these, Moore Capital and Gruss Capital sold all their shares of XLF.
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