Japan is the standout story this week. ETFs targeting Japanese equities pulled in $8.4B over seven days. Flow imbalance hit 81.9, signalling strong buying pressure. Over three months, Japan has attracted $101B — the second-largest geographic haul behind only the U.S.
The contrast with China is stark. Chinese ETFs bled $4.6B this week, with a flow imbalance of just 28.7. That reverses the 3-month trend: China had pulled in $31.9B over the past quarter. Money is rotating out of China now, and fast.
The U.S. remains the largest destination by volume. It drew $15.7B this week, adding to $339B over three months. Developed Markets ex-North America attracted $1.3B this week on an imbalance score of 92.4 — near-universal buying pressure. Emerging Markets added $1.1B with an imbalance of 90.2.
Hong Kong and Taiwan were both in outflow this week. Hong Kong lost $971M. Taiwan shed $764M. Over three months, both had been net positive — so this week marks a notable reversal for two of Asia's key markets. Brazil also saw $464M leave, with a flow imbalance of just 7.2, the weakest reading in the geography data.
Financials suffered the biggest sector outflow this week: $1.2B left. Information Technology shed $867M, despite being the dominant 3-month winner at $52B in net inflows. The short-term pullback from Tech and Financials suggests some profit-taking after a strong quarter.
Energy was the top sector gainer this week with $846M of net inflows and a flow imbalance of 72.2. Health Care added $571M. Consumer Discretionary drew $650M on strong buying pressure of 76.9.
The 3-month picture shows a very different energy story: the sector lost $5B over the quarter. This week's $846M inflow is a sharp reversal. Watch Energy — the 1-week momentum is moving directly against the 3-month trend.
Industrials and Materials were both net outflows this week, despite posting positive 3-month flows of $3.5B and $2.9B respectively.
Equities dominated across both time periods. $27.9B flowed into equity ETFs this week alone. Fixed Income drew $7.7B — a solid secondary inflow. Commodities attracted $4.2B on a 1-week basis, but that flips to a $5.5B outflow over three months, suggesting this week's buying may be speculative rather than structural.
Active strategies continue to gather assets. $5.1B went into active ETFs this week, with a flow imbalance of 69.2. Over three months, active strategies have pulled in $204.7B — the largest of any strategy type outside vanilla indexing. Fundamental and ESG strategies both posted positive 1-week and 3-month flows.
Price-weighted strategies bucked the trend: a $1.95B outflow this week, against a small positive over three months.
Overall, the tone is risk-on. Equities lead, Japan is the hottest geographic trade, and Energy is staging a sharp short-term reversal despite a weak 3-month backdrop.
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.
