US Equities Bleed Cash as Bonds and Active Funds Win

US-focused ETFs shed $46B in a single week. That is the biggest geography outflow by a wide margin. Meanwhile, global ex-US funds pulled in $8.2B — a sharp contrast to the three-month picture where the US attracted $153B in net inflows. The short-term reversal signals a notable shift in where institutional money is pointing right now.

Geography Flows

The US drawdown dominates the weekly headline. Outflows hit $134B gross against just $88B coming in. The flow imbalance of 39.5 confirms strong selling pressure. China also shed $1.9B this week, reversing its impressive $50B net inflow over the past three months. South Korea followed the same pattern — down $1.5B this week after pulling in $18B over three months.

The winners are smaller and more selective. Global ex-US funds grabbed $8.2B with a flow imbalance of 98.1. That near-perfect score means almost all money moved in one direction: in. Switzerland added $496M. Canada took in $1.6B. These are not large sums. But they represent clean, decisive inflows while the giants are bleeding.

Sector Rotation

Tech is the week's biggest sector loser. Information Technology ETFs lost $2.3B net, with $8.9B flowing out against just $6.7B in. That is the heaviest single-sector selling of the week. Industrials dropped $1.3B. Financials lost $1.1B. All three ranked as 3-month inflow leaders, which makes this week's reversal significant.

The money moved into defensive corners. Real Estate gained $489M. Utilities added $337M. Energy took $293M. Communication Services pulled in $260M. Over three months, tech still leads all sectors with $28.9B in net inflows. But this week, that trend broke hard.

Asset Class and Strategy

Fixed income was the standout winner. Bond ETFs attracted $14.4B this week against equity ETFs losing $36.7B. The fixed income flow imbalance reached 65.8 — firmly in buying-pressure territory. Over three months, equities still lead with $472B in net inflows versus $267B for bonds. But the weekly divergence is stark. Investors rotated out of stocks and into bonds in size.

Currency ETFs added $2B this week with a flow imbalance of 91.3. That level of one-sided buying points to deliberate hedging or safe-haven positioning.

On strategy, Active funds were the only major winner. They pulled in $8.4B this week and $123B over three months. Active's flow imbalance of 59.7 held steady in positive territory. Every factor-based strategy lost money this week. Momentum funds haemorrhaged $11.2B — the single worst weekly strategy outflow — reversing a modest $1.8B net loss over three months. Multi-factor and Fundamental strategies each shed over $8B.

The overall tone this week is risk-off. Money left US equities, tech, and momentum strategies. It moved into bonds, currency hedges, and active management. The three-month trend remains broadly constructive, but the short-term signals are flashing caution.