US-focused ETFs pulled in a net $136B last week alone. That dwarfs every other geography by a factor of eight. The picture over three months is equally lopsided: US funds attracted $680B in net flows, more than double the next-largest destination.
Japan is the standout international story. It pulled in $17B net in the past week. Over three months, that figure swells to $307B — a flow imbalance of 68, signalling consistent and broad-based buying pressure. Investors are not fleeing Japan when markets wobble. That is a marked shift from years of hesitancy toward Japanese equities.
Emerging Markets are bleeding. Net outflows hit $39B last week, with a flow imbalance of just 2 — meaning almost all the gross flow was sellers. Over three months, EM is still in the red at -$18B. China is dragging the category down. Chinese-focused ETFs lost $8.5B last week and $37B over three months. That 3m outflow sits alongside a flow imbalance of 40, indicating persistent selling pressure, not just a one-week blip.
India, meanwhile, is a notable reversal. Flows were negative over three months (-$1.1B) but flipped positive last week (+$111M). Small, but worth watching. Switzerland also reversed — it bled $348M last week despite attracting $4.4B over three months.
Tech absorbed a thin $1.7B net last week. Its flow imbalance was only 54 — barely positive. Over three months, however, tech has been the dominant sector with $99B in net inflows. The weekly slowdown may signal some near-term profit-taking after a strong run.
Industrials and Energy are picking up the slack. Industrials attracted $794M last week and $17B over three months. Energy took in $406M last week and $11.5B over three months. Both sectors show steady, consistent buying.
Health Care and Materials are the clearest short-term losers. Health Care lost $810M last week. Materials shed $903M. Both have been weak for three months too, with Materials down $5.9B and Health Care down $5.4B over that stretch. Financials saw a sharp 3m reversal as well — down $11.3B over three months despite a thin $151M inflow last week.
Equities are firmly in the driving seat. ETFs tracking stocks pulled in $151B net last week. Fixed income added a further $10.8B. Commodities saw a tiny net outflow of $126M last week, a sharp contrast to the $79B outflow over three months — the biggest multi-month loser of any asset class.
On strategy, Growth ETFs dominated with $95B of net inflows last week and a flow imbalance of 98. Passive Vanilla funds saw small net outflows (-$2.7B) last week despite being the largest 3m winner at $497B. Active strategies drew $6.6B last week and $130B over three months — a clear multi-quarter trend. ESG remained negative over three months (-$12.9B) but managed a slim positive week.
Overall, the tone is decisively risk-on. Capital is chasing equities — especially US and Japanese stocks — while commodities, EM, and defensive sectors continue to face headwinds.
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.
