Weekly Channel Summary
The specialty equity channel continues to show resilience, currently managing approximately $15B in total assets across 75 ETFs and 53 distinct issuers. This past week saw healthy engagement with the category, recording $198M in net new flows. This activity contributes to a year-to-date total of $393M, as the channel builds on a strong 1-year performance that has attracted $3.45B in investor capital. The landscape remains competitive, particularly with 7 new ETF launches over the past three months, signaling continued innovation in hedged and long/short strategies.
This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards
Performance this week was split between the two primary sub-categories. The Equity: Specialty – Long | Short category emerged as the leader with a positive return of 0.22% WTD, extending its YTD return to 2.15%. Conversely, the Equity: Specialty – Hedged category lagged slightly, posting a -0.31% return for the week, though it maintains a solid 1.40% gain for the year. The divergence highlights a week where tactical long/short positioning outperformed broader hedged strategies.
Category Performance Snapshot
| Category | WTD | 1 Month | 3 Month | 6 Month | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equity: Specialty – Long | Short | 0.22% | 2.73% | 3.20% | 7.45% | 2.15% | 9.93% |
| Equity: Specialty – Hedged | -0.31% | 1.84% | 3.19% | 9.16% | 1.40% | 12.52% |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance
The individual performance leader this week was the Even Herd Long Short ETF (EHLS), which surged 3.67%. On the other end of the spectrum, the Amplify BlackSwan Growth & Treasury Core ETF (SWAN) saw a significant pullback of -4.23%, followed closely by the NEOS Long/Short Equity Income ETF (NLSI) at -4.18%.
| Ticker | Fund Name | WTD Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Top Performers | ||
| EHLS | Even Herd Long Short ETF | 3.67% |
| CBLS | Clough Hedged Equity ETF | 3.63% |
| LSEQ | Harbor Long-Short Equity ETF | 2.85% |
| ORR | Militia Long/Short Equity ETF | 2.76% |
| HEFT | Hedgeye Fourth Turning ETF | 2.14% |
| Bottom Performers | ||
| SWAN | Amplify BlackSwan Growth & Treasury Core ETF | -4.23% |
| NLSI | NEOS Long/Short Equity Income ETF | -4.18% |
| SHRT | Gotham Short Strategies ETF | -3.28% |
| HFSP | TradersAI Large Cap Equity & Cash ETF | -2.36% |
| CLIX | ProShares Long Online/Short Stores ETF | -1.85% |
Analyzing the Weekly Flows
The channel attracted $198M in total net flows this week. Leading the charge was the Specialty – Long | Short category, which garnered $126M and currently manages $4.2B in AUM. The Specialty – Hedged category also saw significant participation, bringing in $72M despite the minor performance dip. Conversely, no major categories saw net outflows at the summary level, indicating broad-based support for these sophisticated risk-management tools.
Category Flows Summary
| Category | Fund Count | AUM | 5 Day | 30 Day | 90 Day | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equity: Specialty – Long | Short | 25 | $4.2B | $126M | $265M | $440M | $222M | $727M |
| Equity: Specialty – Hedged | 50 | $10.5B | $72M | $424M | $760M | $171M | $2,720M |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow
The JPMorgan Hedged Equity Laddered Overlay ETF (HELO) led the weekly inflow chart with $40M in new assets. On the outflows side, the Parametric Hedged Equity ETF (PHEQ) saw the largest withdrawal at -$5M, followed by the Invesco S&P 500 Downside Hedged ETF (PHDG) and Harbor Long-Short Equity ETF (LSEQ), both shedding $4M.
| Ticker | Fund Name | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|---|
| Inflows | ||
| HELO | JPMorgan Hedged Equity Laddered Overlay ETF | $40M |
| ORR | Militia Long/Short Equity ETF | $37M |
| BTAL | AGF U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund | $36M |
| MKTN | Federated Hermes MDT Market Neutral ETF | $15M |
| CTEF | Castellan Targeted Equity ETF | $12M |
| Outflows | ||
| PHEQ | Parametric Hedged Equity ETF | -$5M |
| PHDG | Invesco S&P 500 Downside Hedged ETF | -$4M |
| LSEQ | Harbor Long-Short Equity ETF | -$4M |
| SPD | Simplify US Equity PLUS Downside Convexity ETF | -$2M |
| KSPY | KraneShares Hedgeye Hedged Equity Index ETF | -$1M |
Issuer League Table Update
The specialty landscape is dominated by JPMorgan and First Trust, which command 27.28% and 14.85% of market share respectively. JPMorgan also led the pack in weekly inflows, capturing $48M. Conversely, Parametric faced the largest weekly headwind among major issuers, recording $5M in net outflows.
Top 5 Issuers by AUM
| Brand | Fund Count | AUM | AUM Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPMorgan | 3 | $4.01B | 27.28% |
| First Trust | 1 | $2.18B | 14.85% |
| Fidelity | 2 | $0.82B | 5.59% |
| Simplify | 5 | $0.67B | 4.54% |
| Swan | 1 | $0.61B | 4.16% |
Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow
| Brand | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|
| Inflows | |
| JPMorgan | $48M |
| Militia | $37M |
| AGF | $36M |
| Outflows | |
| Parametric | -$5M |
| Invesco | -$4M |
| Harbor | -$4M |
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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.
