Earlier this week we noticed sizable outflows in one of the largest and well known equity exchange traded funds out there, SPDR S&P Midcap 400 (NYSEArca: MDY). The fund has seen at least $600 million exit this week via redemption activity as it challenges its highest price levels since the middle of last summer.
While the fund has more than $10 billion in assets under management and is one of the “veterans” of the ETF space, having debuted way back in 1995, the outflows are still enough for one to take notice.
It is possible that holders are simply taking profits and liquidating into recent strength in equities, and perhaps reallocating the proceeds in other areas of the markets.
MDY also has more competition than ever in the mid cap blend equity ETF space, with funds such as iShares S&P Midcap 400 (NYSEArca: IJH) challenging it (and currently narrowly outpacing it) for assets under management supremacy.
IJH and MDY are both based on the same index benchmark, the market cap weighted S&P 400, as is Vanguard S&P Mid Cap 400 (NYSEArca: IVOO).