Money Flows Into China and US Bonds, Value Strategies Bleed

China ETFs pulled in $17.9B in the past week. That is the single biggest geographic inflow of any region, and it dwarfs every other destination. Japan came in second at $5.7B. The contrast with the three-month picture is sharp: over 90 days, Japan posted a $15.3B outflow, one of the worst on the board. Money that spent months leaving Japan appears to be rotating into China instead.

Geography Flows

The US attracted $10.0B over the week, its flow imbalance sitting at 56, indicating balanced but net-positive pressure. Over three months the US leads all regions with $269B of net inflows, confirming it remains the dominant destination for ETF capital over any meaningful horizon.

South Korea was the week's clearest loser. Outflows hit $4.2B, with a flow imbalance of just 18. That reading signals strong selling pressure. Over three months, South Korea managed only $2.3B of net inflows, so the weekly reversal is notable.

India also saw mild outflows on the week ($30M net) with a flow imbalance of 16. Over 90 days, Indian ETFs have shed $773M. That is a soft but consistent signal of fading appetite for the subcontinent.

Sector Rotation

Technology topped sector inflows this week at $940M net, but the flow imbalance of 53.5 shows the buying is barely stronger than the selling. Financials and Industrials both attracted over $500M in fresh net money.

The three-month picture flips Financials entirely. Financials posted the biggest sector outflow over 90 days at $11.1B net negative, a stark reversal from this week's $701M inflow. That suggests the recent Financials buying is a short-term bounce rather than a trend. Industrials also reversed: $531M of net inflows this week, but a $652M outflow over three months. The weekly bid looks tactical.

Healthcare bled $151M this week, though over three months it has absorbed $2.6B of net buying. Materials saw $270M of outflows on the week but a positive $956M over 90 days.

Asset Class and Strategy

Fixed Income drew $14.9B in the past week. Its flow imbalance of 65 points to genuine buying pressure. Equities were larger in absolute terms at $38.1B, but over three months Fixed Income has received $299B against Equities' $504B. Bonds are taking a growing share of flows. Commodities flipped to a small $130M net outflow this week after pulling in $33.2B over three months, suggesting some profit-taking in the commodity space.

On strategy, Value ETFs saw $2.5B of outflows this week, with a flow imbalance of just 23. That is a meaningful selling signal. Over three months, Value had been comfortably positive at $7.9B. Growth ran the opposite direction, attracting $2.8B this week. The Growth-over-Value rotation has snapped back hard in a single week.

Active management continued to grow. Active ETFs drew $2.9B this week and $158B over three months, the strongest three-month reading of any non-vanilla strategy. The Goldman Sachs S&P 500 Premium Income ETF (GPIX) reflects this trend: retail attention hit 10.0 standard deviations above its own history in the week to 21 October, per Wikipedia page-view data, suggesting retail interest in income-generating active structures is running extremely hot.

The overall tone is cautiously risk-on. Equity flows dominate, bonds are absorbing serious capital alongside them, and China is the geographic standout of the week.