Fixed income claimed the top spot for weekly ETF inflows. Bonds pulled in a net $23.1B over the past week. Equities collected $15.9B — a solid number, but second place. Over three months, the picture reverses sharply. Equities dominated with $869.6B in net inflows versus bonds at $232.3B. The weekly divergence is a meaningful signal: money is rotating defensively, at least for now.
China was the standout winner this week. Chinese ETFs attracted $8.2B in net inflows, with a flow imbalance of 63.9 — showing genuine buying pressure. That is a sharp reversal from the three-month picture, where China posted a net outflow of $3.3B as selling marginally outweighed buying.
Japan also posted strong weekly inflows of $3.7B. Over three months, Japan is the second-largest recipient globally at $161.2B. The buying in Japan looks durable rather than tactical.
Emerging markets and Taiwan each drew over $2.5B this week. Developed Markets Ex-U.S. saw a near-perfect flow imbalance of 96, meaning virtually all flows were inward. International diversification is clearly in favour right now.
The U.S. was the biggest loser this week. Domestic ETFs bled $9.4B in net outflows. Gross inflows of $48.8B were dwarfed by $58.2B flowing out. Despite that weekly weakness, the U.S. still leads all geographies over three months at $464.6B net. South Korea also shed $1.9B this week against a strong $32.3B three-month gain.
Tech took the heaviest hit this week. Information Technology ETFs lost $3.4B in net flows, with a flow imbalance of just 42.3. Over three months, Tech was the strongest sector by far at $69B net. This week's reversal is sharp and worth watching.
Industrials followed with a $2.2B weekly outflow. That also flips its three-month trend, where Industrials attracted nearly $3B. Financials shed $834M this week despite being net positive over three months.
Energy was the clearest sector winner this week. It drew $697M in net inflows. Over three months, Energy was actually negative at -$4.2B. This is a genuine short-term reversal, possibly driven by oil price moves.
Real Estate and Communication Services also attracted modest inflows this week. Both were positive over three months as well, suggesting more consistent underlying demand.
Commodities were under pressure on both timeframes. The weekly net outflow was $2.8B. Over three months, the figure was -$31.6B. Investors are consistently exiting commodity exposure.
On strategy, passive vanilla ETFs led weekly inflows at $18.6B. Active strategies added $8.7B. The active inflow imbalance of 75.4 signals strong demand — consistent with the three-month trend where active funds pulled in $227.3B.
Growth strategies reversed sharply this week, posting a -$541M outflow. Over three months, growth was the third-largest strategy at +$103.8B. Value funds also bled this week at -$928M. Investors appear to be pausing on factor bets.
The overall tone is cautious rotation: out of domestic U.S. equities, out of tech and growth, into bonds, China, and active strategies. Risk appetite is being trimmed at the margin, not abandoned.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
