Taiwan Surge Leads Asia's ETF Charge

China and Taiwan dominated the week's ETF flows, pulling in the largest hauls of any geography as money rotated hard into Asia while Europe bled cash and sector bets turned sharply in favour of tech.

Geography: Asia Grabs the Wheel

China topped geography inflows at $15.1B for the week. Taiwan followed with $7.6B net, posting the second-highest flow imbalance of any region at 97.1 out of 100. That reading means almost every dollar moving through Taiwan ETFs was a buy. The momentum has context: Taiwan's total export orders hit TWD 36,224 hundred million in September, up 69% on the same month last year, according to ORTEX Alt Data. Orders by destination rose 62% to $114.2B over the same period. ETF investors appear to be pricing that surge in.

Japan pulled in $3.7B on the week. Over three months, the picture flips. Japan saw a net outflow of $6.6B over that span, the largest regional reversal of any geography. Money that left Japan over the quarter has been redeployed elsewhere. The 1w bounce may reflect tactical repositioning rather than a durable trend shift.

Developed Europe was the week's clear loser. Outflows of $395M and a flow imbalance of just 40.6 signal that sellers dominated. Spain was worse: a flow imbalance of 0.7 and a $309M outflow, with barely any inflow at all.

Sector Rotation: Tech Reasserts Itself

Information Technology took in $7.3B on the week, the top sector by some distance. Its flow imbalance of 68.4 shows buying pressure was consistent. Over three months, IT managed only $3.3B net despite much higher gross volumes, suggesting the past week marks a genuine rotation back into the sector.

Financials flipped the other way. The sector shed $940M in the past week. Over three months, Financials were the worst sector, with $9B in net outflows. That 3m trend is now accelerating on the short view.

Industrials also struggled. The sector lost $749M this week, a reversal from its broadly flat 3m position. Utilities and Consumer Staples were both negative on the week but positive over the quarter, pointing to a rotation away from defensives as risk appetite returned.

Energy held up, adding $316M on the week and $2.4B over three months. Materials were negative on the week but positive over the quarter.

Asset Class and Strategy: Equities Lead, Active Funds Surge

Equities pulled in $83.2B in one week. Fixed income added $16.4B. Commodities gathered $2.7B, a flow imbalance of 73.5 indicating firm buying pressure. All four classes were positive, a broad risk-on setup.

Over three months, fixed income has been the standout relative performer. Its $285.6B net inflow equates to 56% of the equity total despite a fraction of the AUM base. The bond bid has not reversed on the 1w data, which adds $16.4B. Duration buyers remain active.

On strategy, vanilla passive funds led in both periods. Active ETFs are the more striking story. Active gathered $8.3B on the week with a flow imbalance of 73.4. Over three months, active funds pulled in $168.9B, nearly 78% of the vanilla total. That gap between active and passive gross flows is closing fast.

Value and Growth both attracted capital this week at near-identical levels, roughly $2.7B each. Over three months, value has accumulated $9.2B against growth's $11.3B. The equal-weight strategy reversed direction: it bled $1.4B this week after gaining $5.3B over three months.

The overall tone is risk-on, led by Asian equity bets and a tech rotation, with bond flows steady and defensive sectors losing ground to growth.