Displaying items by tag: inflows

Last week, over $10.2 billion went into U.S.-listed ETFs, with the majority going into fixed-income funds. Bond ETFs pulled in $4.5 billion according to ETF.com data. This followed the previous week’s $7.8 billion in inflows that went into bond funds. In the first week in January, fixed-income products pulled in $9.4 billion, a jump from $1.5 billion in the last week of December. Investors are flocking to fixed-income exchange-traded funds as recession warnings ring louder. Investors are jumping from stocks to bonds as they are often seen as a safer investment during economic downturns. Earlier in the month, Bloomberg News reported that Wall Street firms are sounding the alarm for a recession in 2023. BlackRock’s Investment Institute stated that “a recession is foretold,” while Barclays is predicting “one of the weakest years for the world economy in 40 years.” This also comes after multiple Fed officials have predicted interest rates remain elevated for the foreseeable future. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly said in a streamed interview with the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago that “I think something above 5[.0%] is absolutely, in my judgment, going to be likely.” Her comments come a week after Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari stated that the “central bank’s so-called terminal rate could reach as high as 5.4% before easing,” in a post on Medium.

Finsum:As Wall Street firms sound the alarm on a potential recession, investors are flocking to fixed-income ETFs, which are seen as safer investments during economic downturns.

Corporate executives are warning that the volatile market, combined with the Fed’s rate hikes and the war in Ukraine will negatively impact fourth-quarter earnings, while analysts have downgraded earnings expectations in every sector. However, there may be a bright spot during earnings season, ETF issuers. According to ETF.com data, ETF flows came in at $203 billion in the fourth quarter, nearly double the third quarter's flows of $105 billion. The increase in flows should help fourth-quarter earnings for ETF issuers. It would also be a reversal from the previous quarter when State Street reported $14 billion in net outflows and Schwab’s ETF revenue declined sharply. ETF inflows at BlackRock’s iShares also fell by more than half compared with the third quarter of last year. The surge in inflows during the fourth quarter can be attributed to the rising demand for fixed-income ETFs. Investors are flocking to bond ETFs as they are considered safe havens during downturns. BlackRock President Rob Kapito said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call, “We're going to see dramatic and large inflows into fixed income over the next year as interest rates rise.” ETF.com data shows that fixed-income funds saw inflows of $61 billion in the fourth quarter, up nearly 13% from the $54 billion in the prior-year quarter.  

Finsum:While analysts are predicting a dismal fourth-quarter earnings season, ETF issuers may be a bright spot as fixed-income funds saw inflows of $61 billion during the quarter.

While rising interest rates last year battered both stocks and bonds, the rise in rates brought higher yields to the fixed-income market. According to Dow Jones Market Data, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 2.330 percentage points in 2022 to 3.826%, its largest annual gain on record. The two-year Treasury yields surged 3.669 percentage points to 4.399%, while the 30-year yield jumped 2.046 percentage points to end the year at 3.934%. These marked the largest annual increases ever for those notes. The jump in yields drove investors into fixed-income ETFs last year, with BlackRock's iShares dominating inflows. In a phone interview with Morningstar, Salim Ramji, BlackRock's global head of iShares and index investments, stated "We had record flows even in one of the worst fixed-income markets. We were twice the next competitor." Based on data from Morningstar Direct, iShares attracted around $100 billion in 2022, the most among U.S.-listed ETFs that invest in fixed income. Vanguard saw the second biggest fixed-income ETF inflows with around $49 billion, followed by State Street with about $21 billion. The most popular fixed-income ETF based on inflows last year was the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), which gathered around $15 billion.

Finsum: In an ugly year for fixed-income markets, bond ETFs continued to see strong inflows due to higher yields with Blackrock’s iShares leading the pack.

While ESG has continued to come under fire from both politicians and regulators, ESG fund assets have continued to grow. In fact, sustainable fund assets grew 0.84% through November, which is better than the 1.1% decline for all funds, according to Morningstar. However, the performance of these funds has not been great; but that's not due to political or regulatory pressure. According to analysts, the reason that ESG funds have underperformed this year is that they missed out on the best performing sector this year, which was energy. ESG funds typically don’t hold stocks of oil companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron that have performed so well this year. According to Morningstar, the average large-cap stock ESG fund has lost nearly 20% through Dec. 21st. That’s about 2.4% worse than the S&P 500 Index. The question is, will that continue into 2023? The answer depends on whether oil companies will continue to outperform. Energy strategists differ in their opinions. Morningstar energy strategist Stephen Ellis thinks it’s unlikely, since “we see the stocks as fairly valued to expensive,” while Fidelity portfolio manager Maurice Fitzmaurice wrote recently “that oil and gas demand should keep growing as effects of the Covid pandemic pass, while lost supplies from Russia prod oil prices to rise.”

Finsum:The performance of ESG funds next year will likely depend on whether oil companies will continue to outperform.

High Yield Bond ETFs have seen a resurgence in inflows over the past few months. Between September 9th to December 9th, $5.4 billion in capital moved into 53 high-yield bond funds that are part of ETF Central’s high-yield bond category. This includes inflows of $2.7 billion over the past month. The uptick in inflows suggests that investors are more willing to take on risk now. High-yield bond ETFs may have higher rates and return potential, but also come with greater default risk. The jump in flows can be attributed to lower-than-expected inflation data, which could lead investors to believe that the Fed might slow down its tightening cycle. For instance, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.1 percent in November on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.4 percent in October. In addition, many investors have been sitting on the sidelines due to the uncertainty in the market and waiting for the time to deploy cash into riskier investments such as high-yield bond ETFs. Plus, the spreads in high-yield bonds have been widening this year, which indicates lower prices and selling pressure on the category. With spreads still fairly wide, there is potential for more upside in high-yield bonds.

Finsum:High-yield bond ETFs are seeing a jump in flows on account of lower-than-expected inflation data, cash on the sidelines being put to use, and fairly wide spreads in high-yield bonds.