Schwab breaks its client base down into retail traders, retail investors and registered investment advisors, or RIAs.
Among retail traders, commodity ETFs “were back in favor, representing 19% of ETF flows, with two-thirds of these flows going into gold,” Schwab said. [Gold ETF Investors Unfazed by Pullback]
In bonds, although some U.S. fixed-income ETFs saw net outflows in the first quarter, retail traders were seeking income with high-yield ETFs. [Junk Bond ETFs Come with Risks]
“While approximately 45% of flows went into U.S. equity ETFs across all segments, retail traders accessed this asset class primarily with sector ETFs, which represented three-quarters of these flows, versus just over one-third of flows for other segments,” Schwab added.
Some traders use sector ETFs to take positions in entire industries rather than individual stocks.