Japan suffered the biggest one-week geographic outflow by far. ETFs focused on the country saw $75.5B exit in the past week. Flow imbalance collapsed to just 9.7 out of 100 — deep selling territory. That is a stark reversal. Over three months, Japan was a strong inflow destination, drawing $77.9B net. Something broke this week.
The U.S. held up better. American-focused ETFs pulled in $41.3B net over the past week, with a flow imbalance of 67.4 — comfortably in buying territory. Over three months, the U.S. leads all geographies at $354B in net inflows. That trend remains intact.
China flipped to outflows this week. Net flows were -$5.4B over seven days, with a flow imbalance of just 27.7. Over three months, China still shows +$21.2B net. The weekly reversal is sharp. Emerging Markets ex-China held steady, with modest inflows and a high imbalance score of 95.1 on the week. Global Ex-U.S. funds also attracted steady buying, with flow imbalance near 98 — almost all inflow, no outflow.
Materials was the only sector to attract meaningful net inflows this week: +$1.75B. Every other major sector bled. Information Technology led outflows at -$1.2B for the week, despite being the quarter's biggest magnet at +$63.3B net over three months. That divergence is notable. Financials lost $827M this week. Industrials shed $420M. Even Health Care saw -$340M in net outflows over seven days, though it gained $6.5B over three months.
Real Estate quietly attracted +$185M on the week and +$5.3B over three months. It is one of the few sectors consistently drawing money.
The clearest signal sits in asset classes. Equity ETFs had -$23.7B in net outflows this week. Fixed Income pulled in +$17.9B. That is a significant weekly swing to bonds. Over three months, equities still dominate with +$711B net. But the weekly reversal in equity flows alongside bond inflows signals caution entering near-term.
Commodities attracted +$2.8B on the week. That compares to a three-month net outflow of -$30.4B. This week's commodity inflow is a genuine short-term shift.
On strategy, Active funds are the standout. They pulled in +$11.5B net this week, with flow imbalance at 80.8. Over three months, Active funds attracted $211B — the second largest strategy flow after Vanilla passive. Vanilla itself shed $50.8B this week. Investors are rotating from passive to active. Value strategies gained $2.4B on the week. Dividend strategies added $538M. Both show steady demand.
The overall tone is risk-off. Bonds are absorbing what equities are losing. Japan's reversal, tech outflows, and passive selling all point the same direction: caution.
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.
