Weekly Channel Summary
The FI: Specialty channel closed the week with $76.69B in assets spread across 167 ETFs from 13 issuers. Net flows were modestly positive at $6M for the five-day period, a figure that masks sharper underlying rotation within the category. Longer-term trends remain firmly positive, with YTD inflows of $14,133M and 1-Year inflows of $19,183M underscoring sustained demand for defined-maturity and laddered bond strategies over the trailing year.
This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards
Specialty – Interest Rate Volatility led all categories this week with a WTD gain of 1.41%, extending its strong YTD return of 7.52% and 1-Year return of 9.85%, by far the best-performing segment in the channel. Specialty – Defined Maturity, the channel’s largest category by fund count, slipped -0.59% WTD, while Specialty – Maturing Ladder posted the weakest result at -1.19% WTD and remains negative YTD at -0.86%. The standout fund of the week was PFIX, which surged 8.85%, far outpacing the rest of the top-five list where gains were fractional. On the downside, longer-dated term and longevity-income products such as LIBD (-3.26%) and IBGK (-3.10%) weighed on the bottom of the leaderboard, reflecting pressure on longer-duration and inflation-linked structures during the week.
Category Performance Snapshot
| Category | WTD | 1 Month | 3 Month | 6 Month | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty – Interest Rate Volatility | 1.41% | -0.96% | 4.06% | 5.79% | 7.52% | 9.85% |
| Specialty – Defined Maturity | -0.59% | 0.42% | -0.51% | 0.12% | 0.74% | 1.56% |
| Specialty – Maturing Ladder | -1.19% | 1.23% | -1.24% | -1.42% | -0.86% | -0.87% |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance
Fund-level performance this week was dominated by PFIX, whose 8.85% WTD gain dwarfed the next-best performer, RISR, up a modest 0.61%. Beyond these two, gains across the remaining top performers, including CPII and the State Street municipal ladder funds, were marginal and under 0.2%. The weakest performers were concentrated among long-dated iBonds Treasury funds and inflation-protected longevity income products, with IVOL down 3.06% and IBGL down 3.04%. This divergence highlights the week’s split between volatility-hedging strategies, which benefited, and duration-sensitive longer-maturity funds, which lagged.
| Ticker | Fund Name | WTD Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Top Performers | ||
| PFIX | Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF | 8.85% |
| RISR | FolioBeyond Alternative Income and Interest Rate Hedge ETF | 0.61% |
| CPII | American Beacon Ionic Inflation Protection ETF | 0.37% |
| MYMG | State Street My2027 Municipal Bond ETF | 0.16% |
| MYCF | State Street My2026 Corporate Bond ETF | 0.12% |
| Bottom Performers | ||
| LIBD | LifeX 2065 Inflation-Protected Longevity Income ETF | -3.26% |
| IBGK | iShares iBonds Dec 2054 Term Treasury ETF | -3.10% |
| IVOL | KraneShares Quadratic Interest Rate Volatility and Inflation Hedge ETF | -3.06% |
| LIAU | LifeX 2060 Inflation-Protected Longevity Income ETF | -3.05% |
| IBGL | iShares iBonds Dec 2055 Term Treasury ETF | -3.04% |
Analyzing the Weekly Flows
The channel generated a net inflow of $6M over the five-day period, a relatively subdued figure against the backdrop of $14,133M in YTD inflows. By category, Specialty – Interest Rate Volatility led with $15M of inflows, while Specialty – Defined Maturity saw a $10M outflow despite being the dominant category by assets. Among segments, Government funds attracted the most capital at $35M, while Corporate funds suffered the largest outflow at -$27M. By duration, the 2026 bucket stood out sharply with a -$357M weekly outflow as funds approach maturity, contrasting with steadier inflows spread across the 2028 through 2036 duration buckets.
Flows by Category
| Category | Fund Count | AUM | 5 Day | 30 Day | 90 Day | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty – Interest Rate Volatility | 7 | $1.06B | $15M | $135M | $180M | $115M | $186M |
| Specialty – Maturing Ladder | 28 | $187M | $1M | $10M | $6M | $33M | $20M |
| Specialty – Defined Maturity | 132 | $75.44B | -$10M | $1,260M | $3,756M | $13,986M | $18,976M |
Flows by Segment
| Segment | Fund Count | AUM | 5 Day | 30 Day | 90 Day | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government | 65 | $14.81B | $35M | $804M | $1,875M | $4,229M | $5,314M |
| Municipal | 36 | $5.72B | -$1M | $181M | $508M | $1,381M | $1,835M |
| Corporate | 66 | $56.15B | -$27M | $419M | $1,559M | $8,523M | $12,034M |
Flows by Duration
| Duration | Fund Count | AUM | 5 Day | 30 Day | 90 Day | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: 2026 | 9 | $9.15B | -$357M | -$1,183M | -$2,369M | -$4,391M | -$3,692M |
| Duration: 2027 | 13 | $13.78B | -$20M | $38M | $432M | $1,806M | $2,437M |
| Duration: 2028 | 14 | $13.69B | $68M | $347M | $1,088M | $3,825M | $4,706M |
| Duration: 2029 | 13 | $11.14B | $67M | $484M | $849M | $2,926M | $3,731M |
| Duration: 2030 | 17 | $9.05B | $31M | $320M | $828M | $2,772M | $3,641M |
| Duration: 2031 | 15 | $6.44B | $88M | $409M | $904M | $2,251M | $2,604M |
| Duration: 2032 | 13 | $4.61B | $54M | $251M | $491M | $1,322M | $1,608M |
| Duration: 2033 | 11 | $3.21B | $38M | $136M | $409M | $952M | $1,083M |
| Duration: 2034 | 10 | $2.26B | $5M | $132M | $341M | $945M | $1,118M |
| Duration: 2035 | 13 | $1.46B | $8M | $138M | $402M | $987M | $1,132M |
| Duration: 2036 | 9 | $544M | $9M | $175M | $375M | $515M | $515M |
| Duration: 2044 | 1 | $75M | $0M | $3M | -$25M | -$4M | $1M |
| Duration: 2045 | 3 | $26M | $0M | $3M | $6M | $7M | $8M |
| Duration: 2046 | 3 | $70M | $0M | $8M | $32M | $59M | $59M |
| Duration: 2050 | 2 | $7M | $0M | $0M | $0M | $0M | $0M |
| Duration: 2054 | 1 | $5M | $0M | $0M | $0M | $2M | $2M |
| Duration: 2055 | 5 | $27M | $0M | $8M | $4M | $4M | $5M |
| Duration: 2056 | 3 | $53M | $0M | $0M | $2M | $42M | $42M |
| Duration: 2060 | 2 | $4M | $0M | $0M | -$4M | -$2M | -$2M |
| Duration: 2065 | 2 | $6M | $0M | $0M | -$1M | -$1M | -$1M |
| Duration: Long | 1 | $1M | -$0M | -$0M | -$0M | $0M | -$0M |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow
At the fund level, BSCV led weekly inflows with $46M, followed by BSCT at $28M, as investors continued to roll into intermediate-maturity bulletshares and term funds. Outflows were far more concentrated, led by BSCQ, the Invesco BulletShares 2026 Corporate Bond ETF, which shed -$191M, and IBTG, the iShares iBonds Dec 2026 Term Treasury ETF, which lost -$66M. These outflows align with the broader 2026 duration bucket’s negative flow trend, reflecting maturity-driven redemptions as these funds near their target dates.
| Ticker | Fund Name | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|---|
| Inflows | ||
| BSCV | Invesco BulletShares 2031 Corporate Bond ETF | $46M |
| BSCT | Invesco BulletShares 2029 Corporate Bond ETF | $28M |
| MYCH | State Street My2028 Corporate Bond ETF | $27M |
| IBTI | iShares iBonds Dec 2028 Term Treasury ETF | $26M |
| BSCX | Invesco BulletShares 2033 Corporate Bond ETF | $25M |
| Outflows | ||
| BSCQ | Invesco BulletShares 2026 Corporate Bond ETF | -$191M |
| IBTG | iShares iBonds Dec 2026 Term Treasury ETF | -$66M |
| IBDR | iShares iBonds Dec 2026 Term Corporate ETF | -$56M |
| BSMQ | Invesco BulletShares 2026 Municipal Bond ETF | -$26M |
| BSCR | Invesco BulletShares 2027 Corporate Bond ETF | -$15M |
Issuer League Table Update
iShares and Invesco remain the dominant issuers in the channel by assets, holding 58.58% and 37.18% market share respectively, together accounting for nearly 96% of channel AUM. State Street led weekly inflows among issuers with $34M, followed by KraneShares at $17M and iShares at $14M. On the outflow side, Invesco recorded the largest weekly redemption at -$70M, driven largely by maturity-related selling in its 2026 BulletShares lineup, while Simplify saw a smaller -$7M outflow despite its PFIX fund’s strong performance elsewhere in the lineup.
Top 5 Issuers by AUM
| Brand | Fund Count | AUM | AUM Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| iShares | 56 | $44.93B | 58.58% |
| Invesco | 36 | $28.51B | 37.18% |
| State Street | 24 | $1.35B | 1.76% |
| Vanguard | 10 | $644M | 0.84% |
| FolioBeyond | 1 | $489M | 0.64% |
Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow
| Brand | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|
| Inflows | |
| State Street | $34M |
| KraneShares | $17M |
| iShares | $14M |
| Outflows | |
| Invesco | -$70M |
| Simplify | -$7M |
| Stone Ridge | -$0M |
For a deeper dive into these trends, access our FREE, in-depth FI: Specialty 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.
