Bonds Lead, Momentum Stocks Surge

Fixed income dominated the week. $20B flowed into bond ETFs over the past seven days. That dwarfs equity's $8.5B gain. Over three months, the picture reverses — equities absorbed $560B against bonds' $263B. The short-term pivot toward fixed income is the clearest signal of the week.

Geography Flows

Global and Developed Markets Ex-U.S. led geography inflows this week. Global ETFs pulled in $7.0B. Developed Markets Ex-U.S. added $2.8B with a near-perfect flow imbalance of 99.5. Both confirm a durable international diversification trend seen over three months too.

South Korea was the biggest regional outflow story. It shed $3.0B in a single week. China lost $2.7B. Emerging Markets as a whole bled $2.5B. Over three months, those same regions were strong inflow destinations — South Korea attracted $20.9B, China $41.5B. The reversal is sharp and worth watching.

Developed Europe lost $1.1B this week. That contrasts with a solid $7.6B inflow over three months. India also flipped — $1.6B out over three months, now accelerating with almost no buying pressure (imbalance: 0.9) this week.

U.S. ETFs attracted $4.4B on the week. That looks solid, but the flow imbalance of just 51.1 signals a near-even split between buyers and sellers. Over three months, U.S. ETFs took in $250.9B — the dominant geography by far.

Sector Rotation

Financials suffered the biggest sector outflow this week. $3.2B left the sector, with a flow imbalance of just 23.7 — heavy selling pressure. Over three months, Financials were essentially flat with $496M in net inflows. The weekly deterioration stands out.

Information Technology attracted $2.2B this week. Industrials added $1.7B with a healthy imbalance of 73.6. Consumer Discretionary pulled in $965M. All three reflect a growth-leaning rotation. Tech remains the three-month sector king at $39.3B net.

Energy lost $568M this week and $3.7B over three months — the only sector to post consistent outflows across both periods. Utilities and Health Care also saw mild weekly outflows after gaining over three months.

Asset Class & Strategy

Alternatives quietly attracted $3.3B this week, with an imbalance of 86.3 — strong buying pressure. Commodities added $2.4B. Both asset classes are seeing renewed interest after posting positive three-month flows too.

Currency ETFs shed $392M this week despite a $4.6B three-month gain. Selling pressure has picked up sharply.

On strategy, Momentum funds were the standout. $6.4B flowed in this week with a near-perfect imbalance of 97.8. Fundamental and Multi-factor strategies also attracted strong weekly inflows. Vanilla (passive index) funds lost $16.5B — the largest single strategy outflow of the week. Over three months, Vanilla dominates with $261.7B, but the short-term reversal signals traders are actively rotating away from broad index exposure. Active management drew $124B over three months but shed $650M this week.

The overall tone is cautiously defensive — bonds up, EM retreating, and money chasing factor strategies over passive broad-market exposure.