Edited by Peter Hillerberg2 min readStories are generated from ORTEX data and reviewed by the ORTEX team. How we publish
US equity ETFs pulled in $86B in the past week alone. That is the dominant story in fund flows right now. The flow imbalance sits at 77.9, a strong buying pressure reading. Over three months, US-listed ETFs have attracted $274B. The direction is clear and consistent.
Brazil stands out as a high-conviction destination over the past week. Its flow imbalance hit 95.0, with $2.3B net inflow from a tight $2.4B gross inflow. Almost nothing left. Korea attracted $1.6B, with a flow imbalance of 66.9, suggesting sustained buying pressure that has held across three months ($7B net over that period).
Japan is the notable loser. It shed $1.9B in the past week, with a flow imbalance of just 32.8. That outflow accelerated from a $8.1B deficit over three months. Investors are rotating out of Japan at pace. The three-month picture shows China attracting $24B net, but with a flow imbalance of 55.3, the buying pressure is nowhere near as strong as headline flows suggest. Mexico and Latin America remain under sustained selling pressure across both timeframes.
The most striking reversal is in Technology. Over three months, IT was the biggest loser among sectors, bleeding $8.1B with a near-balanced flow imbalance of 48.5. This week, the picture flipped entirely. Tech ETFs took in $2.4B net, leading all sectors. Whether that reversal holds is an open question, but the shift is sharp.
Financials are struggling on both timeframes. They lost $1.3B this week and $5B over three months. The flow imbalance of 33.5 points to sustained selling pressure.
Utilities attracted $446M this week with a flow imbalance of 77.6. Energy brought in $361M. Both sectors have attracted consistent inflows over three months, totalling $2.7B and $374M respectively. Real Estate and Health Care have been the steadiest destinations across the quarter, drawing $3.4B and $3B respectively over three months.
Equity ETFs absorbed $98B in net inflows this week. Fixed Income added another $20B. Both asset classes are attracting money simultaneously, a sign that overall risk appetite is broad. Over three months, equities have taken in $512B against $294B for fixed income. Commodities, flat this week, pulled in $31B over the quarter.
The strategy story centres on active management. Active ETFs gathered $81B in a single week, the largest total of any strategy, with a flow imbalance of 95.4. That compares with $176B over three months. The gap between active and passive (vanilla: $16B this week) is striking. Vanilla funds have led on a three-month basis with $231B, but this week's data suggests active is dominating short-term allocation decisions.
Growth strategies attracted $2.4B this week with a flow imbalance of 87.1. Value, by contrast, saw $393M net outflow this week despite positive three-month flows of $8.5B. The week-level reversal in value is a divergence worth watching.
Low volatility and dividend strategies face mild selling pressure this week, consistent with a broader risk-on tone that favours growth and active selection over defensive positioning.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data and reviewed by the ORTEX team. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
