Large-Cap Blend Dominates as Financials Sector Lags

Issuer flows were led by the largest brands in absolute terms, with SPDR gathering $6.73B on the day and extending a 30-day haul of $20.87B, while Vanguard added $5.01B and continues to lead YTD with $392.41B. Invesco ($1.24B), JPMorgan ($621.4M) and iShares ($607.3M) rounded out the top five, though iShares’ daily figure looks modest against its $21.24B 5-day and $50.81B 30-day totals. On the relative side, smaller shops such as Humilis (7.98% of AUM), Avos (6.99%) and Yoke (6.18%) posted the largest percentage gains off a small asset base, while LeaderShares (-18.71%) and Tradr (-6.83%) saw the steepest relative redemptions. Among absolute laggards, Putnam shed $646.8M, T. Rowe Price gave back $596.2M, and Tradr lost $351.7M, each consistent with weaker 30-day trends for Putnam ($619.1M) and Tradr (-$254.2M).

Total flows across all tracked ETFs reached $14.20B on the day, with Equity leading at $8.91B and Fixed Income close behind at $5.21B, together accounting for the bulk of the day’s activity against a 1-year pace of $2,094.31B. Within categories, U.S. Large Cap – Blend dominated with $7.78B of inflows, dwarfing other leaders such as Municipal – Intermediate ($1.78B) and U.S. Large Cap – Growth ($1.57B). On the outflow side, Sector – Financials gave back $1.11B, U.S. Small Cap – Blend lost $823.7M, and Taxable – Securitized fixed income shed $778.4M. Smaller asset classes such as Commodity ($148.9M), Alternative ($191.6M) and Multi-Asset ($65.9M) saw modest inflows, while Non-Traditional (-$77.5M) and Digital Asset (-$245.0M) posted outflows for the day despite positive 30-day and YTD totals of $8.00B and $4.12B respectively.

U.S. size and style flows were headlined by State Street’s SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) at $6.75B and Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF (VOO) at $2.71B, with Invesco’s QQQ Trust (QQQ) adding $1.37B. On the outflow side, iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) lost $1.42B and iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) shed $889.2M. Also notable were redemptions from T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF (TCAF) at $669.4M and Putnam Focused Large Cap Value ETF (PVAL) at $646.8M, consistent with the issuer-level pattern of outflows for both firms.

Ex-U.S. size and style activity was led by iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) with $484.3M and Schwab International Equity ETF (SCHF) at $303.1M, followed by iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF (ACWX) at $196.2M. On the laggard side, Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF (AVDV) lost $187.1M, and iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) shed $146.4M. The Global Ex-U.S. Large Cap – Blend category overall gathered $1.34B even as Global Ex-U.S. Small | Mid Cap lost $240.2M, highlighting divergent flows within international allocations.

Sector flows were led by State Street’s Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU) at $636.8M and Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLC) at $560.3M, consistent with the Utilities ($552.9M) and Communication Services ($541.2M) category inflows. Technology also drew interest via State Street’s Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) at $283.7M. In contrast, the Financials sector saw the day’s largest category outflow at $1.11B, driven by State Street’s Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) losing $1.04B, while semiconductor-focused funds iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) and VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) shed $482.9M and $304.2M respectively.

Regional flows were comparatively modest, led by iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) at $292.3M and Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF (VPL) at $69.7M. Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF (FLTW) and iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ) added $54.5M and $44.6M. On the outflow side, iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) gave back $27.4M and Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (ARGT) lost $17.3M, with China-linked funds such as KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB) also posting small redemptions of $13.8M.

Thematic flows were led by ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), which gathered $236.1M, followed by First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) at $139.0M and iShares Global Infrastructure ETF (IGF) at $79.9M. On the outflow side, Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) lost $73.0M and First Trust Nasdaq Clean Edge Smart GRID Infrastructure Index (GRID) shed $53.1M, with Roundhill Metaverse ETF (METV) also down $48.3M.

Fixed income inflows were broad-based, led by iShares Core International Aggregate Bond ETF (IAGG) at $752.5M and iShares 0-1 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHV) at $718.1M, with municipal funds Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VTEB) and iShares National Muni Bond ETF (MUB) adding $683.3M and $624.3M, consistent with the Municipal – Intermediate category’s $1.78B inflow. On the outflow side, iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) lost $766.6M and iShares MBS ETF (MBB) shed $716.7M, aligning with the Taxable – Securitized category’s $778.4M redemption. Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF (VCLT) also lost $555.6M, in line with the Long-Term fixed income category’s $525.1M outflow.

Commodity flows were modest at $148.9M for the day, led by gold products with SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) adding $114.9M and SPDR Gold Minishares Trust (GLDM) gaining $99.1M. United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) added a smaller $11.4M. On the outflow side, United States Oil Fund LP (USO) lost $43.6M and Invesco DB Agriculture Fund (DBA) shed $14.1M, against a 30-day commodity trend of $3.69B in inflows.

Digital asset flows were negative overall at -$245.0M for the day, despite a positive 1-month trend of $4.12B. Bitwise NEAR ETF (NRR) led inflows with $14.0M, followed by Fidelity Solana Fund (FSOL) at $2.8M. The largest outflow came from Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) at $125.6M, with Grayscale Zcash Trust (ZCSH) and Fidelity Ethereum Fund ETF (FETH) also posting redemptions of $30.2M and $26.6M respectively.

Non-Traditional flows were slightly negative overall at -$77.5M, led on the inflow side by JPMorgan NASDAQ Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ) with $192.8M and Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 3X ETF (TMF) with $58.9M. Leveraged single-stock products accounted for much of the outflow activity, with Tradr’s 2X Long Innovation 100 Monthly ETF (MQQQ) losing $96.5M and 2X Long LITE Daily ETF (LITX) shedding $91.7M, consistent with the Leverage | Inverse – Single Stock category’s $491.2M outflow. Tradr’s 2X Long CRWV Daily ETF (CWVX) also lost $46.4M (may be the result of a custom rebalance).

Recent launches skewed toward international and large-cap blend strategies, including the Jensen U.S. Quality Index ETF (JQTY) with $1.3M in AUM and Logan Capital International ETF (LCIV) at $19.1M. Avantis All International Core Equity ETF (AVNC) launched with a more substantial $95.4M in assets, while Bitwise NEAR ETF (NRR) entered the digital asset space with $52.8M. Hartford introduced two new products, the Alpha Capture International Growth ETF (ACIG) and Alpha Capture SMID Cap ETF (ACSM), with $4.0M and $15.7M respectively, while Putnam’s Focused U.S. Research ETF (PFRX) launched with no reported assets yet.