South Korean Defense Surges While Mexico Lags in Weekly Performance

Share

Weekly Channel Summary

The EQ: Region & Country channel currently oversees $243 billion in assets across 186 ETFs managed by 36 issuers. Over the past week, the channel attracted $482 million in net new money, extending a strong 1-year inflow trend of $23.28 billion. Despite the positive momentum over the long term, Year-to-Date (YTD) activity remains slightly negative with $110 million in net outflows as investors rebalance portfolios at the start of the new year.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

Performance was led by the Asia-Pacific category, which posted a Week-to-Date (WTD) return of 1.07%, followed closely by the Eurozone at 0.94%. Conversely, the Americas category was the primary laggard, ending the week down -0.06%. Despite the mixed weekly results, all broad categories remain in positive territory for the year, with Asia-Pacific leading the pack at 1.27% YTD.

Category Performance Snapshot

Category WTD 1 Month 3 Month 6 Month YTD 1 Year
Asia-Pacific 1.07% 2.55% 1.50% 13.63% 1.27% 27.98%
Eurozone 0.94% 4.75% 5.04% 9.66% 0.85% 38.48%
Africa-Middle East 0.15% 4.33% 3.57% 11.29% 0.68% 28.79%
Americas -0.06% 1.25% 11.26% 17.65% 0.36% 48.66%

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance

The top performer for the week was the PLUS Korea Defense Industry Index ETF (KDEF), which surged 6.59%. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the iShares MSCI Mexico ETF (EWW) and Franklin FTSE Mexico ETF (FLMX) were the hardest hit, falling -2.09% and -1.89%, respectively.

Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
Top Performers
KDEF PLUS Korea Defense Industry Index ETF 6.59%
EWY iShares MSCI South Korea ETF 6.51%
FLKR Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF 5.57%
MKOR Matthews Korea Active ETF 5.08%
AIA iShares Asia 50 ETF 4.68%
Bottom Performers
EWW iShares MSCI Mexico ETF -2.09%
FLMX Franklin FTSE Mexico ETF -1.89%
KURE KraneShares MSCI All China Health Care Index ETF -1.75%
EZA iShares MSCI South Africa ETF -1.50%
COLO Global X MSCI Colombia ETF -1.36%

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

The channel recorded total net inflows of $482 million this week. The Eurozone category saw the highest demand, bringing in $198 million, which brings its total AUM to $79.5 billion. The Americas also noted significant activity with $189 million in new assets. While broad categories remained positive, internal sub-category rotations led to minor outflows in regions like Argentina (-$8M).

Category Flows Summary

Category Fund Count AUM 5 Day 30 Day 90 Day YTD 1 Year
Eurozone 53 $79.5B $198M $1,018M $4,813M ($5M) $13,893M
Americas 18 $27.8B $189M $811M $1,064M $19M $3,822M
Asia-Pacific 103 $132.7B $83M $1,367M $3,544M ($124M) $5,042M
Africa-Middle East 11 $2.6B $12M $52M $140M $0M $524M

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow

The iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF (EZU) led inflows with $96 million, followed closely by EWZ ($94M) and FEZ ($93M). On the outflow side, the Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF (VPL) experienced the largest withdrawal of $181 million, while the iShares MSCI Singapore ETF (EWS) saw a decline of $42 million.

Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
Inflows
EZU iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF $96M
EWZ iShares MSCI Brazil ETF $94M
FEZ SPDR EURO STOXX 50 ETF $93M
EWY iShares MSCI South Korea ETF $92M
EWC iShares MSCI Canada ETF $65M
Outflows
VPL Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF ($181M)
EWS iShares MSCI Singapore ETF ($42M)
CQQQ Invesco China Technology ETF ($26M)
EWA iShares MSCI Australia ETF ($16M)
EPOL iShares MSCI Poland ETF ($11M)

Issuer League Table Update

iShares maintains its dominance in the channel with a 49.18% market share, followed by JPMorgan at 15.59%. iShares also captured the most weekly inflows, securing $446 million. Conversely, Vanguard saw the largest withdrawal among top issuers, with $178 million leaving its products this week.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Brand Fund Count AUM AUM Market Share
iShares 64 $119.29B 49.18%
JPMorgan 5 $37.82B 15.59%
Vanguard 2 $37.73B 15.55%
WisdomTree 10 $11.04B 4.55%
Franklin 18 $9.01B 3.72%

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow

Brand 5-Day Flow
Inflows
iShares $446M
SPDR $93M
Franklin $78M
Outflows
Vanguard ($178M)
Invesco ($27M)
Global X $5M

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.