Memes Crash, “Boring” Cash: Dividends & Low Vol Defy the Downturn

Share

Weekly Channel Summary

The U.S. Size & Style channel currently houses 904 ETFs across 246 Brands, managing a total of $6,779 Billion in assets. It was a mixed week for the space; while performance was broadly negative across all market caps and styles, investor demand remained robust in specific areas. The channel attracted $19.83 Billion in net inflows for the week, pushing Year-to-Date inflows to $451.95 Billion. Over the trailing 1-year period, the channel has gathered $578.97 Billion, highlighting the sustained momentum in core U.S. equity allocations despite short-term volatility.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

It was a “sea of red” for performance this week, with no category finishing in positive territory. U.S. Mid Cap Value showed the most resilience, declining just -0.51%, followed closely by U.S. Small Cap Blend (-0.55%). On the other end of the spectrum, growth strategies suffered the steepest declines. The primary laggard was U.S. Large Cap Growth, which fell -2.85%. Despite this weekly pullback, Large Cap Growth remains the YTD leader, up 11.71% so far in 2025.

Category Performance Snapshot

Category WTD 1 Month 3 Month 6 Month YTD 1 Year
U.S. Mid Cap – Value -0.51% -2.36% 0.12% 10.03% 4.22% -1.60%
U.S. Small Cap – Blend -0.55% -3.44% 1.09% 8.10% 3.68% -1.83%
U.S. Small Cap – Value -0.64% -2.43% 1.24% 11.64% 1.75% -3.34%
U.S. Mid Cap – Blend -0.75% -3.11% 0.31% 9.23% 4.27% -1.08%
U.S. Large Cap – Value -0.84% -1.20% 1.90% 12.09% 9.55% 4.48%
U.S. Small Cap – Growth -1.01% -4.79% 1.62% 10.38% 4.37% -2.26%
U.S. Large Cap – Blend -1.59% -2.35% 2.42% 10.22% 10.20% 7.51%
U.S. Mid Cap Growth -1.71% -5.38% -1.58% 7.57% 4.11% -0.54%
U.S. Large Cap – Growth -2.85% -4.33% 2.68% 5.61% 11.71% 10.93%

Top & Bottom ETFs by Weekly Performance

In the Large Cap space, the EASY (Liberty One Defensive Dividend Growth ETF) managed to buck the trend with a gain of 1.17%, while the MEME (Roundhill Meme Stock ETF) plummeted -11.67%. In Mid Caps, AWEG (Alger Weatherbie Enduring Growth ETF) led with 1.13%, contrasting with NUMG (Nuveen ESG Mid-Cap Growth ETF) which fell -3.43%. Small Caps saw AFSC (abrdn Focused U.S. Small Cap Active ETF) rise 0.98%, while NUSC (Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF) dropped -2.79%.

Large Cap Performance

Top Performers
Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
EASY Liberty One Defensive Dividend Growth ETF 1.17%
CAPE DoubleLine Shiller CAPE U.S. Equities ETF 0.85%
SELV SEI Enhanced Low Volatility U.S. Large Cap ETF 0.82%
MVAL VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat Value ETF 0.80%
TMDV ProShares Russell US Dividend Growers ETF 0.56%
Bottom Performers
MEME Roundhill Meme Stock ETF -11.67%
SGRT SMART Earnings Growth 30 ETF -8.13%
BUZZ VanEck Social Sentiment ETF -7.33%
FCUS Pinnacle Focused Opportunities ETF -7.19%
QQQA ProShares Nasdaq-100 Dorsey Wright Momentum ETF -5.46%

Mid Cap Performance

Top Performers
Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
AWEG Alger Weatherbie Enduring Growth ETF 1.13%
XMVM Invesco S&P MidCap Value with Momentum ETF 0.61%
SMAP Amplify Small-Mid Cap Equity ETF 0.58%
REGL ProShares S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF 0.42%
NBSM Neuberger Berman Small-Mid Cap ETF 0.27%
Bottom Performers
NUMG Nuveen ESG Mid-Cap Growth ETF -3.43%
QQJG Invesco ESG NASDAQ Next Gen 100 ETF -3.37%
QQQJ Invesco NASDAQ Next Gen 100 ETF -2.92%
NUMV Nuveen ESG Mid-Cap Value ETF -2.76%
FRTY Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF -2.47%

Small Cap Performance

Top Performers
Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
AFSC abrdn Focused U.S. Small Cap Active ETF 0.98%
JPSV JPMorgan Active Small Cap Value ETF 0.51%
SMDV ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF 0.46%
XSLV Invesco S&P SmallCap Low Volatility ETF 0.42%
XSVM Invesco S&P SmallCap Value with Momentum ETF 0.39%
Bottom Performers
NUSC Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF -2.79%
JSML Janus Henderson Small Cap Growth Alpha ETF -2.12%
IJS iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF -1.85%
SLYV State Street SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Value ETF -1.85%
VIOV Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF -1.85%

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

The channel attracted a significant $19.8 Billion in net inflows this week, heavily skewed towards one category. U.S. Large Cap Blend was the overwhelming favorite, pulling in $17.6 Billion, which further cements its dominance with over $3.8 Trillion in AUM. U.S. Large Cap Value also saw healthy demand with $5.4 Billion in inflows. Conversely, investors rotated out of other areas: U.S. Large Cap Growth saw outflows of -$1.4 Billion, while U.S. Small Cap Blend experienced the largest weekly outflow of -$1.9 Billion.

Category Flows Summary

Category Fund Count AUM ($M) 5 Day ($M) 30 Day ($M) 90 Day ($M) YTD ($M) 1 Year ($M)
U.S. Large Cap – Blend 334 $3,823,380 $17,589 $58,467 $116,530 $280,003 $353,557
U.S. Large Cap – Value 190 $854,500 $5,372 $11,150 $24,895 $56,534 $75,279
U.S. Mid Cap – Blend 66 $342,700 $252 $1,317 $5,273 $20,274 $27,072
U.S. Mid Cap – Value 21 $71,600 $30 $22 $226 $1,196 $1,955
U.S. Small Cap – Value 34 $90,500 $8 ($312) $91 ($3,720) ($2,483)
U.S. Small Cap – Growth 18 $47,400 ($79) $159 $302 ($1,850) ($464)
U.S. Mid Cap Growth 23 $55,700 ($121) ($182) $1,209 $1,664 $2,456
U.S. Large Cap – Growth 150 $1,194,280 ($1,402) $15,138 $32,767 $105,732 $124,812
U.S. Small Cap – Blend 60 $298,600 ($1,880) $1,359 $4,504 ($7,945) ($3,280)

Top & Bottom ETFs by 5-Day Flow

In Large Cap, VOO (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF) dominated with $7.7 Billion in inflows, while QQQ (Invesco QQQ Trust Series I) saw significant outflows of -$3.1 Billion. In Mid Cap, VO (Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF) led inflows with $213 Million, while IJH (iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF) shed -$184 Million. Small Cap inflows were led by ESML (iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF) with $133 Million, contrasting with the IWM (iShares Russell 2000 ETF), which lost -$2.0 Billion.

Large Cap Flows

Inflows
Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
VOO Vanguard S&P 500 ETF $7,702M
IVV iShares Core S&P 500 ETF $5,205M
IVE iShares S&P 500 Value ETF $3,734M
SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust $1,927M
MTUM iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF $1,296M
Outflows
QQQ Invesco QQQ Trust Series I ($3,177M)
QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF ($1,218M)
DIA SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust ($926M)
IWF iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF ($416M)
RSP Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF ($370M)

Mid Cap Flows

Inflows
Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
VO Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF $213M
IWR iShares Russell Midcap ETF $116M
SPMD State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 400 Mid Cap ETF $75M
FMDE Fidelity Enhanced Mid Cap ETF $70M
VXF Vanguard Extended Market ETF $53M
Outflows
IJH iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF ($184M)
MDY SPDR S&P Midcap 400 ETF Trust ($171M)
IWP iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF ($168M)
IWS iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF ($47M)
XMHQ Invesco S&P MidCap Quality ETF ($29M)

Small Cap Flows

Inflows
Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
ESML iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF $133M
IJR iShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF $130M
AVUV Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF $66M
SPSM State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 600 Small Cap ETF $40M
FESM Fidelity Enhanced Small Cap ETF $36M
Outflows
IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF ($2,060M)
VB Vanguard Small-Cap ETF ($196M)
IWO iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF ($62M)
CALF Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows ETF ($47M)
IWN iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF ($26M)

Issuer League Table Update

Vanguard and iShares continue to dominate the market share, controlling 34.44% and 27.25% of the assets, respectively. Both giants also topped the flow charts this week, with Vanguard pulling in $10.3 Billion and iShares adding $8.7 Billion. Conversely, Invesco faced the steepest challenges, seeing -$3.0 Billion in outflows, largely driven by withdrawals from its large-cap growth products.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Brand Fund Count AUM ($B) AUM Market Share
Vanguard 38 $2,335.01 34.44%
iShares 81 $1,847.48 27.25%
SPDR 30 $999.52 14.74%
Invesco 69 $640.23 9.44%
Schwab 12 $292.19 4.31%

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow

Inflows
Brand 5-Day Flow
Vanguard $10,325M
iShares $8,745M
SPDR $1,901M
Outflows
Invesco ($3,020M)
First Trust ($308M)
Pacer ($195M)

For a deeper dive into these trends, access our FREE, in-depth ETF reports in the right side panel of this page.

Disclosures

This material is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. All investments, including ETFs, involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Investors should consider their investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.

This analysis was developed by the team at ETF Action. We leverage advanced AI tools to assist in the drafting and refinement of our content, based on our expert prompts, direction, and final review.