Japan is the standout story this week. ETFs focused on Japanese equities pulled in a net $10.9B over the past seven days. That is the largest single-geography inflow of the week, with a flow imbalance of 79 — a clear buying signal. Over three months, Japan has attracted $163B in net flows, making it the top non-US destination by a wide margin.
The broader picture is unmistakably risk-on. Equity ETFs globally absorbed $38B in net inflows this week alone. Fixed Income added another $19.7B. Together they dwarf the tiny net flows into Commodities ($557M) and Alternatives ($450M). Over three months, equities have taken in $819B and fixed income $242B — both asset classes attracting money simultaneously, suggesting broad market confidence rather than a defensive rotation.
Asia dominates the weekly flow table. Emerging Markets pulled in $3.9B, South Korea $3.7B, Taiwan $3.6B, and China $3.5B — all posting strong imbalance scores above 59. The Global Ex-US category added $3.4B with a near-perfect imbalance of 96, meaning almost no outflow pressure. Hong Kong is the lone Asian loser, bleeding $1.1B this week and $9.5B over three months. US-focused ETFs posted just $352M net despite $66.8B in gross inflows — the market is massive and flows nearly cancel out.
One notable trend shift: Developed Europe was a modest gainer this week at $780M, but has bled $1.4B over three months. Europe as a broad category is in net outflow both 1w and 3m.
Information Technology leads sector inflows this week at $1.5B net. However, its imbalance score sits at just 54 — barely positive — reflecting heavy two-way trading with $9.6B of gross outflows against $11.1B in. Over three months, Tech dominates all other sectors with $79.4B in net inflows, more than ten times the next-best sector.
Energy reversed course sharply. It attracted $643M this week but has shed $6.1B over three months — the biggest sector outflow in that period. Financials are also under pressure, losing $828M this week after three months of modest gains. Health Care and Industrials are consistent bright spots, posting positive flows in both timeframes. Consumer Staples and Communication Services are in outflow across both periods — a clear lean away from defensives and old media.
Active management is accelerating. Active ETFs gathered $5.9B this week and $225.8B over three months — a 50% share of Vanilla passive on a 3m basis. That gap is narrowing fast. Value strategies flipped from slight 3m outflows to $1.3B inflow this week, while Momentum is up $6.3B over three months despite a dip last week.
ESG strategies continue to attract money: $1.6B this week, $10.5B over three months. Dividend strategies also held up, adding $1.4B on the week.
The overall tone is firmly risk-on. Money is flowing into equities, Asia, active strategies, and growth-adjacent sectors. Defensives, Energy, and European equities are losing ground.
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.
