Large Cap Growth and Blend Lead as Thematics Bleed

Flow leadership stayed concentrated among the largest brands, with SPDR gathering $3.83B, Invesco adding $3.68B, and Vanguard pulling in $2.53B, extending Vanguard’s strong 5-Day ($9.84B) and 30-Day ($10.00B) trends and its $410.26B YTD haul. iShares added a comparatively modest $631.9M on the day despite leading all issuers over 5-Day ($12.56B) and 30-Day ($89.01B) windows. Among smaller brands, BNY Mellon stood out with $729.8M in absolute inflows (3.56% of its $20.52B AUM), while Alger gathered $555.4M, a 9.40% single-day lift relative to its $5.91B asset base. On the outflow side, ARK’s ($4.60B) single-day redemption (may be the result of a custom rebalance) dwarfed other laggards, while VanEck ($415.6M), ProShares ($151.5M), Roundhill ($110.7M), and US Commodity Funds ($109.1M) posted smaller net withdrawals.

Total ETF flows reached $11.12B on the day, with Equity ($5.77B) and Fixed Income ($4.48B) driving the bulk of activity against a $16,455.46B industry AUM base. Equity inflows were led by U.S. Large Cap – Growth at $4.20B and U.S. Large Cap – Blend at $3.49B, both well ahead of other categories and consistent with Equity’s $94.75B 30-Day and $956.39B YTD totals. Fixed Income: Municipal – Intermediate added $1.59B, a standout within a $2,700.96B asset class that has gathered $76.58B over the past month. Commodity was the only major asset class to post a net outflow at ($472.8M), while Thematic – Multi-Sector ($4.04B) and Sector – Information Technology ($1.37B) led category-level outflows, and Digital Asset finished the day at ($338.2M) despite a $2.16B 30-Day gain.

Within U.S. size and style, the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) led with $2.80B, followed by the SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPYM) at $2.03B and the BNY Mellon US Large Cap Core Equity ETF (BKLC) at $801.6M. On the outflow side, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) shed ($777.2M) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) lost ($464.3M), with smaller redemptions also hitting the iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO) at ($176.7M). The spread between large-cap core products on the inflow and outflow side suggests substitution activity across similar S&P 500 exposures rather than a uniform directional move.

Ex-U.S. size and style flows were comparatively modest, led by the iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF (IDEV) at $264.8M and the Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS) at $83.7M. The JPMorgan International Value ETF (JIVE) added $70.3M and the iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF (SCZ) gathered $66.3M. On the outflow side, the SPDR Portfolio Emerging Markets ETF (SPEM) led redemptions at ($72.7M), with remaining outflows across Capital Group, Invesco, John Hancock, and Harding Loevner funds all below $10M.

Sector flows were led by the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) at $783.7M and the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) at $495.6M, consistent with the category-level $1.03B gain in Financials and $693.6M gain in Energy. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) added $341.2M and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) gathered $250.7M. Technology and semiconductor exposures faced the heaviest redemptions, with the iShares U.S. Technology ETF (IYW) losing ($762.6M) and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) shedding ($697.7M), aligning with the broader ($1.37B) Information Technology sector outflow.

Regional flows were dominated by the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ), which gathered $486.7M, far outpacing the iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (IEUR) at $72.5M. Smaller inflows reached the iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF (EWZS) at $13.8M and the Xtrackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity ETF (DBJP) at $11.7M. Outflows were led by the Invesco China Technology ETF (CQQQ) at ($34.6M) and the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) at ($26.6M), with Germany and China exposures also posting modest redemptions.

Thematic flows were starkly negative overall, as the category posted a ($4.04B) net outflow driven largely by the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), which saw a ($4.19B) single-day redemption (may be the result of a custom rebalance). The ARK Next Generation Technology ETF (ARKW) also lost ($369.5M) and the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) shed ($150.4M). Against this backdrop, the Alger AI Enablers & Adopters ETF (ALAI) added $93.5M and the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) gathered $91.0M, while homebuilder-focused products from iShares and SPDR each added roughly $28-43M.

Fixed Income inflows totaled $4.48B on the day, led by municipal exposures including the Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VTEB) at $528.9M and the iShares National Muni Bond ETF (MUB) at $431.0M, consistent with the $1.59B Municipal – Intermediate category gain. Duration exposure also drew interest via the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) at $280.2M. Credit products faced the heaviest redemptions, with the iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) losing ($563.4M) and the iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) shedding ($292.5M), aligning with the broader ($602.6M) High Yield category outflow.

Commodity exposures posted a net ($472.8M) outflow for the day, extending a ($81.8M) weekly decline despite a $2.02B 30-Day gain. The iShares Silver Trust (SLV) led inflows at $42.5M, followed by the Breakwave Tanker Shipping ETF (BWET) at $25.0M. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) led outflows at ($302.5M), consistent with the ($370.8M) Precious Metals category decline, while the United States Oil Fund (USO) lost ($103.8M).

Digital Asset flows were negative at ($338.2M) on the day, though the category retains a $2.16B 30-Day gain and $3.42B YTD total. The Franklin XRP ETF (XRPZ) added $8.2M and the Fidelity Ethereum Fund ETF (FETH) gathered $5.5M, with smaller inflows into Franklin Bitcoin and Bitwise NEAR products. The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) led outflows at ($197.1M), with the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) also shedding ($71.1M), consistent with the ($250.1M) Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin category decline.

Non-Traditional strategies added $1.49B on the day, led by the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF (SOXL) at $263.3M and the GraniteShares 2x Long COIN Daily ETF (CONL) at $154.4M. The ProShares Ultra S&P 500 (SSO) added $99.8M and the Direxion Daily MSCI South Korea Bull 3X ETF (KORU) gathered $88.1M. On the outflow side, the ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) lost ($224.4M) and the Direxion Daily MU Bull 2X ETF (MUU) shed ($108.0M).

Recent launches were dominated by smaller, early-stage products, with the largest being the Simplify Brookwood Global Macro ETF (GMAC) at $61.1M AUM and the Russell Investments Multisector Bond ETF (RINK) at $37.5M, alongside the Direxion U.S. 500 Plus ETF (SPXP) at $19.8M. WisdomTree introduced two Specialty Alternative Asset Sleeve products, WSLS and WTAL, each starting with $2.5M in AUM, while Subversive launched two ‘Redacted’ equity ETFs (XXSP and XXQQ) with sub-$3M in assets. Smaller unclassified or thematic debuts included Tuttle Capital’s Photonics Income Blast ETF (OPTO) at $750K and Amplify’s Top 10 Semiconductors ETF (CPU) at $480.8K, rounding out a launch slate skewed toward niche and alternative strategies.