Active strategies and US equities dominated ETF flows this week. The shift away from Asia and into growth-oriented bets marks the most notable trend of the past seven days.
The US pulled in a net $28.9B in the past week. Flow imbalance sits at 62.7 — solid but not extreme buying pressure. Global funds added another $18.9B, with an imbalance of 83.9, showing near one-sided demand.
Japan and China tell a very different story. Japan saw $8.6B in outflows this week. That is a sharp reversal. Over three months, Japan has been the second-largest recipient globally with $300B in net inflows. Something shifted. China is also bleeding — $8.6B out in a week, and a $49B net outflow over three months. The flow imbalance for China this week dropped to just 30.7, deep in selling territory.
Developed Markets Ex-US held up well at $1.2B net inflows and an imbalance of 80.1. Investors are selectively rotating into international developed markets while ditching Asia.
Technology leads all sectors this week with $8.6B in net inflows. That continues a dominant three-month trend — IT has pulled in $98.9B over 90 days, far ahead of any other sector.
Materials and Real Estate each attracted over $1B this week. Materials is a notable flip — it bled $5.2B over three months but flipped positive this week at +$1.2B. Real Estate also recovered, pulling in $1.1B versus a modest $3.1B over the quarter.
Energy is the biggest loser this week at -$1.4B outflows. That is a reversal too. Energy attracted $10.5B over three months but has turned negative on the week with an imbalance of just 23.2.
Industrials lost $791M this week. Over three months, Industrials drew $13.5B — so short-term sentiment has cooled sharply.
Financials are near-flat, hovering either side of zero across both periods.
Fixed Income edged ahead of Equities as the top asset class this week. Bonds attracted $17.2B versus $16.2B for stocks. Over three months, equities dominated with $1.18T versus $190B for bonds — so this week's near-tie is a meaningful shift. Commodities drew $3.3B this week. Over three months they bled $71B, making this week's inflow a potential turning point.
The strategy picture is unambiguous. Active funds took in $21.9B this week with an imbalance of 87.3 — the strongest buying signal across all categories. Over three months, active pulled in $146B. Growth strategies added $4B this week and $330B over three months. ESG continues to leak — minus $804M this week, minus $15.3B over three months.
Vanilla passive funds turned negative this week at -$3.3B, despite absorbing $464B over three months. Investors are rotating toward active management in the short run.
The overall tone is cautiously risk-on. Money is moving into US stocks, tech, and growth — but the bond-equity flow tie this week, plus Japan and China exits, suggest investors are hedging their bets.
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.
