US and Japan dominated ETF inflows this week. The US pulled in $111B net in just five trading days. Japan added $26B on top of that. Both regions show high flow imbalance scores — 76.8 and 92.5 respectively — signalling strong buying pressure with very little offsetting outflow.
China was the sharpest reversal. It shed $7.2B net this week (flow imbalance: 27.8), while losing $35B over three months. Investors are actively reducing exposure. Developed Europe also slipped into outflow territory for the week at -$375M, a mild drag that contrasts with its positive $6B three-month trend.
The US continues to attract the bulk of institutional ETF capital. $111B net this week follows a $657B net gain over three months. Japan is the standout international play. Its $26B weekly inflow — nearly all buying, almost no selling — builds on $305B over 90 days. Latin America posted a small but clean $334M inflow this week. Flow imbalance hit 97.5, meaning almost no outflow at all. Switzerland flipped negative this week at -$190M, despite a solid $4.6B three-month gain. That is worth watching.
Information Technology drew the largest sector net inflow this week at $3.3B. That matches its three-month lead of $103B. However, its flow imbalance sits at just 57.3 — barely above neutral. Gross selling in tech remains heavy at $9.5B outflow this week alone. Real Estate gained $427M this week, a reversal from its sluggish three-month number. Industrials added $356M this week on top of $17.8B over three months. Both sectors show steady accumulation without outsized selling pressure. Utilities and Health Care were the week's biggest sector losers. Utilities saw $667M leave. Health Care shed $488M. Both carried outflow momentum from the three-month period as well.
Equities led all asset classes at $30B net this week. Fixed Income added a solid $6.8B. Commodities stood out as the only loser at -$1B for the week. Over three months, commodities bled $81B — the clearest sign of sustained institutional selling in any single asset class. Active strategies pulled in $10.8B this week. That is a notable shift. Over three months, passive Vanilla strategies led with $492B. But the weekly gap between Active ($10.8B) and Vanilla ($14B) has narrowed sharply. Growth strategies showed a striking three-month figure of $327B at a 93.0 flow imbalance — near-total buying pressure. ESG remained in the red, losing $13.1B over three months and barely breaking even this week at +$193M. Price-weighted strategies bled $1.5B this week. They have now lost $4.1B over three months.
Overall, the tone is risk-on. Equities and fixed income are both absorbing money. The US and Japan dominate geography. Active management is gaining ground on passive. The clear losers are China, commodities, and defensive sectors.
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.
