Fund flow data reveal that institutional investors piled into exchange traded funds during the impressive run-up in last week’s rally.
According to Lipper data, in the week ended Oct. 12, equity funds bled $24 million, Reuters reports. However, if ETF fund flows were excluded, total outflows amounted to $3.1 billion.
Domestic funds, excluding ETFs, saw net outflows of $2.07 billion while non-domestic funds experienced $1.04 billion in outflows, according to Lipper. [Exodus from Stock Mutual Funds Continues; ETFs See Inflows]
The fund flow data indicates that the average retail investor did not partake in the short-term rally last week.
Notable ETF inflows in the week ended Oct. 12 include:
- SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY), which added $912 million.
- iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NYSEArca: EEM), which added $796 million.
- iShares Russell 2000 Index Index (NYSEArca: IWM), which added $539.
If ETFs were included into total equity fund flows, total domestic funds saw outflows of $98 million while total non-domestic funds saw inflows of $74 million.
For more information on mutual funds, visit our mutual fund category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.
Full disclosure: Tom Lydon’s clients own SPY.