Japan dominated ETF inflows this week. The country pulled in a net $35.5B over the past seven days. That puts it ahead of the U.S., which saw just $8.5B in net flows despite far larger gross volumes.
The contrast with China is sharp. China shed $8.8B this week, with a flow imbalance of just 24.8 — deep in selling territory. Over three months, China is also in the red, down $38B net. That makes it the clearest sustained outflow story across geographies right now.
Japan is attracting money from both directions. Its 1-week flow imbalance of 91.9 signals near-unanimous buying pressure. Over three months, Japan has received $298.9B in net flows — second only to the U.S. at $549.7B. Global Ex-U.S. funds are also gaining, with a 94.1 imbalance this week. That suggests investors are actively diversifying away from home-country bias. Developed Europe slipped into outflow territory this week, shedding $320M. Over three months, Europe managed a small $6.8B net positive — so the short-term reversal bears watching. India flipped negative on the 3-month view at -$949M, but this week saw modest inflows of $232M.
The big story in sectors is the reversal in Tech. Information Technology saw a $1.49B net outflow this week. Over three months, IT had attracted $98.6B — the largest sector haul by far. That 1-week pullback is a notable break from trend. Health Care, Materials, Utilities, and Consumer Staples all bled money this week. Real Estate was the top gainer, taking in $500M net with a flow imbalance of 67.9. Industrials also held positive at $294M. Over three months, Energy attracted $13.3B — but this week it lost $177M, another short-term reversal worth noting. Financials shed $296M this week and $11.3B over three months. That is a persistent outflow story.
Equity remains the dominant destination. It pulled in $38.9B net this week and $1.09T over three months. Fixed Income added $7.7B this week — consistent with its $195.5B three-month trend. Both asset classes are running parallel inflows, which points to broad market participation rather than a clean risk-on or risk-off shift. Commodities lost $287M this week and $81.3B over three months. That is a large and sustained outflow. Alternatives also dipped slightly negative this week after posting $10.6B over three months.
On strategy, Active funds are a standout. They took in $13.1B this week and $129.7B over three months. The flow imbalance of 74.8 this week confirms persistent buying pressure. ESG continued to bleed, losing $1.76B this week and $13.4B over three months. Growth strategy funds attracted $1.7B this week, consistent with their $231.8B three-month haul — the second-largest strategy flow after Vanilla passive.
The overall tone is cautiously risk-on: equities and bonds both attracting money, Japan surging, but Tech cooling and China under sustained pressure.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
