Fixed income claimed the top spot this week. $14.2B flowed into bond ETFs over the past seven days. That beat every other asset class by a wide margin. Equities added $7.3B, but the gross churn was enormous — $87.5B in and $80.2B out — reflecting indecision rather than conviction.
Commodities were the quiet standout. $4.4B moved in over the week, with a flow imbalance of 75. That signals clear buying pressure, not two-way noise. Over three months, commodities attracted $6.7B, so the short-term pace is accelerating.
The U.S. bled $5.1B in net outflows this week. That is a sharp reversal. Over three months, U.S.-focused ETFs pulled in $293.7B — the biggest geographic inflow globally. Money is rotating out of domestic exposure at the margin right now.
Japan took the most inflows this week: $3.8B net, with a flow imbalance of 71. Over three months, Japan gathered $103.7B. The trend is consistent and strengthening. Hong Kong added $3.1B this week, a notable one-week surge versus its modest $813M over the full three months — worth watching.
China reversed sharply. Over three months, China ETFs attracted $33.5B. This week, they shed $1.5B. South Korea also flipped — $41B inflow over three months, but a $1.2B outflow this week. Asia rotation appears to be narrowing toward Japan and away from Northeast Asian markets broadly.
Tech took the hardest hit. Information Technology ETFs lost $3B in net outflows this week, making it the worst-performing sector. Yet over three months, tech pulled in $45.2B — by far the largest sector total. This week's reversal is the sharpest divergence in the data.
Energy flipped the other way. It gained $677M this week. Over three months it lost $4.3B. That is a meaningful trend change — sellers appear to be stepping back. Health Care continued attracting flows: $671M this week, $7.2B over three months. The trend is steady.
Industrials and Materials both shed money this week — $613M and $550M respectively — after posting gains over the three-month window. Cyclical sector money is pausing.
Active ETFs were the top strategy this week with $5.4B in inflows. The flow imbalance hit 70, indicating broad buying pressure. Over three months, Active pulled in $202.4B. Managers are capturing flows from passive vehicles at an accelerating rate.
Vanilla passive saw $326.6B over three months but posted a $1.1B outflow this week. Exchange-specific strategies bled $3.7B this week — their three-month total was a $29.7B inflow. That is another sharp short-term reversal.
Dividends strategies continued to attract money: $954M this week, $13.1B over three months. Defensive income positioning remains intact.
Overall, the one-week picture is risk-cautious. Bond inflows dominate, U.S. equity ETFs are seeing outflows, tech is unwinding, and Japan stands out as the clearest near-term destination for global equity money.
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.
