On The Fly: ETF fund flow highlights

For the week, ETF fund flows saw creations exceed redemptions by a factor of over 2 to 1. Overall flows were much lighter than we have seen in the last several weeks, per data from ETF.com. The single largest creation was in the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) at over 24% of inflows. The remaining inflows were in far more risk-averse instruments. The iShares MBS ETF (MBB), Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF (SPLV), Vanguard International Bond ETF (BNDX), and Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF (SCHO) constituted over 49% of the remaining creations in the top ten. Other inflows were smaller but shared a very low-volatility and fixed-income-centric theme. On the outflows side the skew among funds was almost non-existent in the top five redemptions. Bonds again dominated flows, but the Technology (XLK) sector fund was also among the top five. Overall flows were in fixed-income or risk-averse assets with equities not generally participating. This theme was also evident in ICI mutual fund data over the same interval.