As the Eurozone languishes under a stagnating growth outlook, investors seem fed up with European markets, funneling record outflows from the region-focused stock exchange traded funds.
According to Markit data, U.S.-listed Europe stock ETFs have experienced almost $3 billion in asset outflows so far this month, compared to a record $2.2 billion pulled over August, the largest monthly outflow since the products were launched, reports Ralph Atkins for Financial Times.
For example, the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (NYSEArca: VGK), the largest U.S.-listed Europe ETF, experienced $2.1 billion in outflows so far this month, according to ETF.com data. Meanwhile, the iShares MSCI EMU ETF (NYSEArca: EZU), which tracks European Monetary Union states, saw $369.8 million in outflows.
Market observers argue that the outflows were fueled by a depreciating euro, which made euro-denominated returns less attractive when converted back into U.S. dollar terms, along with fears of deflationary troubles.
“The growth story isn’t really there,” Simon Colvin, analyst at Markit, said in the article.
However, some investors are bottom fishing with Europe hedged-equity ETFs, which hedge against a depreciating euro currency. For instance, the Deutsche X-Trackers MSCI Europe Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca: DBEU) added $119.3 million so far this month while the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: HEDJ) saw $227 million in new inflows.