Investors still favored fixed-income exchange traded funds over the second quarter, but U.S.-listed stock ETFs saw the most back-and-forth action over the brief bought of market volatility.
Looking at ETF assets custodied at Schwab, which was about $135 billion, up 9% over the past year, U.S. fixed-income ETFs experienced the largest asset growth of 10% and brought in 75% of net inflows in the second quarter, according to a Charles Schwab research note. [iShares Exec Says $2 Trillion Bond ETF Growth ‘Conservative’]
While fixed-income ETFs have accumulated 37% of all ETF flows at Schwab, the asset class only made up 14% of total year-to-date trades.
Meanwhile, U.S. equity ETFs, which make up 41% of ETF assets, accounted for about 25% of all ETF trades at Schwab. As market volatility increased over the past few months, short sells rose in U.S. equity ETFs, notably from retail investors. However, even with the significant outflows in the second quarter, equity ETF buys outnumbered redemptions.
On the Schwab platform, retail traders, who trade at least 36 times a year, made up 29% of year-to-date ETF trades; retail investors, who include those except retail traders plus Schwab Corporate and Retirement Services end clients, accounted for 35% of trades; and registered investment advisor clients had 36% of trades.
For more information on ETF asset flows, visit our ETF performance report category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.