Large-Cap Blend and Municipal Bonds Lead Fresh Inflows

Flows remained heavily concentrated among the largest issuers, with iShares pulling in $6.99B and SPDR close behind at $6.68B, both dwarfing the rest of the field and extending trends that have driven $306.16B and $114.14B YTD, respectively. JPMorgan ($581.0M) and WisdomTree ($338.3M) posted solid but far smaller absolute gains, while Nuveen’s reported $277.8M inflow appears tied to a custom rebalance rather than organic demand. On the downside, Vanguard shed $2.52B for the day despite a robust $378.42B YTD total, and Direxion ($342.4M) and Global X ($215.5M) rounded out the largest genuine daily outflows. On a relative basis, smaller issuers stood out: Humilis (+5.48%), Reckoner (+5.11%), and City Different (+2.80%) posted the strongest percentage gains versus AUM, while Impax (-13.41%) and Jensen (-4.81%) saw the sharpest relative redemptions.

Total flows across all asset classes reached $12.28B on the day, building on a $41.71B 1-week and $123.66B 1-month pace that keeps the YTD tally near $1.51T. Equity led all categories with $8.07B in net inflows, well above Fixed Income’s $3.49B, though both remain far behind their respective $917.64B and $479.27B YTD totals. Commodity ($563.5M) and Digital Asset ($341.9M) categories posted modest gains, while Non-Traditional products saw a $292.5M outflow, a continuation of the $3.12B 1-week decline in that asset class. Within categories, U.S. Large Cap – Blend led with $3.38B of inflows, followed by Municipal – Intermediate fixed income at $999.0M, while Fixed Income: Taxable – Short-Term ($963.1M) and U.S. Large Cap – Growth ($798.0M) posted the largest single-day redemptions.

Large-cap blend products dominated the U.S. size and style category, led by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) with $3.59B and the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) at $2.21B, alongside smaller-cap gains from the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) at $887.6M. On the outflow side, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) lost $1.92B and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) shed $1.15B, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) declined by $1.08B, reflecting a divergence between blend and growth-tilted large-cap vehicles.

Ex-U.S. size and style flows were comparatively modest, led by the iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF (ACWX) at $383.8M and the Avantis International Equity ETF (AVDE) at $151.2M. Smaller inflows also went to the iShares International Country Rotation Active ETF (CORO) at $76.0M. On the outflow side, the iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (EFG) lost $145.1M, the largest redemption in the group, consistent with the broader $143.0M daily outflow from the Global Ex-U.S. Large Cap – Growth category.

Sector flows were led by the Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF (PPA) at $726.0M, aligning with the $841.5M inflow into the broader Industrial sector category, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) gained $429.4M and the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF) added $405.7M. The First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF (FTXN) posted a $685.6M inflow that likely reflects a custom rebalance rather than organic demand (may be the result of a custom rebalance). On the redemption side, the First Trust NASDAQ-100 Technology Sector Index Fund (QTEC) lost $562.4M and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) shed $273.0M, consistent with the $86.5M outflow from the broader Information Technology sector category.

Regional flows were modest overall, with the iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (IEUR) leading inflows at $120.1M and the JPMorgan BetaBuilders Canada ETF (BBCA) adding $66.5M. On the outflow side, the KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB) declined by $76.4M, the largest regional redemption of the day, followed by the iShares MSCI India ETF (INDA) at $52.7M and the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) at $25.6M, suggesting broad-based softness in emerging Asia exposure.

Thematic flows were led by the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS) at $74.1M and the First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) at $45.4M, with the Amplify Blockchain Technology ETF (BLOK) adding $35.3M. On the outflow side, the Global X Defense Tech ETF (SHLD) lost $149.6M, the largest thematic redemption, consistent with the broader $199.3M decline in the Industrial Revolution category, while the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) shed $95.3M.

Fixed income inflows were led by the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) at $872.1M and the Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VTEB) at $594.7M, aligning with the $999.0M gain in the Municipal – Intermediate category. On the outflow side, the Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF (BSV) lost $1.12B, and the Roundhill Ultra Short Duration No Dividend Target ETF (XBOX) declined $381.2M, though the latter figure reflects a custom rebalance rather than genuine demand (may be the result of a custom rebalance). The iShares MBS ETF (MBB) also shed $271.4M, consistent with the $963.1M outflow from the Short-Term Taxable category.

Commodity flows were dominated by gold products, with SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) adding $586.0M and SPDR Gold Minishares (GLDM) gaining $75.9M, in line with the $592.5M inflow into the Precious Metals category. On the outflow side, the iShares Gold Trust (IAU) lost $40.0M and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) shed $32.2M, modest declines relative to the overall $563.5M net inflow into the commodity asset class.

Digital asset flows were positive overall at $341.9M for the asset class, led by the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) at $97.0M and the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) at $55.7M, with the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) adding $50.4M. The Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust (BITB) was the largest laggard, losing $11.8M, while other funds in the category saw minimal to no flow activity.

Non-Traditional products saw a net $292.5M outflow for the day, with leveraged single-stock products such as the GraniteShares 2x Long AMD Daily ETF (AMDL) gaining $81.7M and the JPMorgan NASDAQ Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ) adding $79.6M. The largest redemption came from the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF (SOXL), which lost $431.9M, consistent with the broader $622.6M decline in the Leverage | Inverse – Equity category, while the ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ (SQQQ) shed $222.7M.

Recent launches were dominated by small-scale entrants, including Hotchkis & Wiley’s Mid-Cap Value Fund ETF (HWMV) with $497.9K in AUM and several zero-AUM Portfolio Building Block sector funds covering consumer staples, banks, and ex-U.S. industrials. Larger relative debuts include the Man Active Global Infrastructure ETF (MGIN) at $9.9M and the Invesco Nasdaq International Innovators 100 ETF (QQI) at $4.0M, both launched September 23, 2026. The KraneShares Actuator ETF (TORK), targeting the Industrial Revolution thematic category, opened with $2.5M in assets, while fixed income and income-oriented launches such as T-Strive Digital Credit Preferred Income ETF (DCAP) and VegaShares US Equity Autocallable Conservative Income ETF (VAIC) remain in early asset-gathering stages.