5 Most-Loved ETFs at the Onset of Q4

Last week, ETFs pulled in $13.8 billion in capital, pushing year-to-date inflows to $425 billion. U.S. fixed-income ETFs led the way higher with $8.4 billion in inflows, closely followed by $4.5 billion in U.S. equity ETFs and $2.4 billion in international fixed-income ETF, per etf.com.

As such, iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF LQD, iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM, iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF HYG, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO and SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF BIL dominated the top creation list last week.

The start of the fourth quarter has been promising for Wall Street, with the major indices in green last week. The S&P 500 gained 1.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2%. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.7% (read: Top-performing ETF Areas of Last Week).

The world's largest economy added 263,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% from 3.7% in August. However, the job growth marks a gradual slowdown from the August 315,000 gain, and the lowest monthly increase since April 2021. Additionally, manufacturing activity grew at its slowest pace in almost two and a half years last month, according to the Institute for Supply Management.

Meanwhile, investors fled to fixed-income ETFs on market turbulence triggered by an aggressive Fed rate hike, which could push the economy into recession.

We have detailed the ETFs below:

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD)

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF is the top asset creator, pulling in $1.3 billion in capital. It offers exposure to a broad range of U.S. investment-grade corporate bonds by tracking the Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index. iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF holds 2,512 securities in its basket with an effective duration of 8.35 years and an average maturity of 13.18 years.     

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF has AUM of $33.1 billion and trades in an average daily volume of 20 million shares. LQD charges 14 bps in annual fees and has a Zacks ETF Rank #4 (Sell) with a High-risk outlook.

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM)

iShares Russell 2000 ETF accumulated around $1.2 billion in its asset base last week. It is the largest and most popular ETF in the small-cap space, with AUM of $51.3 billion and an average daily volume of 23.6 million shares. iShares Russell 2000 ETF holds well-diversified 1,969 stocks in its basket and has key holdings in healthcare, financials, industrials, information technology and consumer discretionary.

iShares Russell 2000 ETF charges 19 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 23.6 million shares. It has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) with a Medium-risk outlook (read: 5 Top-Ranked ETFs With Lower P/E Ratio).

iShares iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG)

iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF has accumulated $1.1 billion in capital. It offers exposure to a broad range of U.S. high-yield corporate bonds by tracking the Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index.

iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF is one of the most widely used high-yield bond ETFs with AUM of $13.5 billion and an average daily volume of 34 million shares. HYG charges 48 bps in annual fees and has a Zacks ETF Rank #4 with a High-risk outlook.

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF accumulated $1.1 billion in capital. It tracks the S&P 500 Index and holds 503 stocks in its basket, each accounting for more than 7.2% of assets. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF is heavy on the information technology sector while healthcare, consumer discretionary and financials round off its next three spots with a double-digit allocation each.

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF charges investors 3 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 4.3 million shares. It has AUM of $253.7 billion and a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a Medium-risk outlook.

SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL)

SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF saw an inflow of $1.1 billion last week. It seeks to provide exposure to zero-coupon U.S. Treasury securities with a remaining maturity of 1-3 months. It follows the Bloomberg 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index, holding 16 securities in its basket. Both average maturity and adjusted duration come in at 0.13 years each (read: 5 Treasury ETFs Gaining Investors' Love This Year).

SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF has AUM of $25.3 billion and an average daily volume of 6 million shares. It charges 14 bps in annual fees and has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a Medium-risk outlook.

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iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG): ETF Research Reports
 
iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM): ETF Research Reports
 
iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD): ETF Research Reports
 
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): ETF Research Reports
 
SPDR Bloomberg 13 Month TBill ETF (BIL): ETF Research Reports
 
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