Weekly inflows to investment-grade corporate bond funds were the highest in over two decades amid signs investors are moving away from junk debt following a strong run.
Investors put $2.4 billion into investment-grade corporate bond funds, the most on a record that spans nearly 21 years, Reuters reports. Of that total, $1.4 billion flowed to investment-grade corporate bond mutual funds, and the rest went into ETFs.
The iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond (NYSEArca: LQD) has seen inflows of $562.4 million over the past week and was the third-best selling fund among all ETFs, according to IndexUniverse data.
The iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond (NYSEArca: HYG) and SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond (NYSEArca: JNK) have both seen outflows of more than $200 million since the end of September.
The recent buying patterns in investment-grade and high-yield ETFs suggest investors are moving into safer corporate bonds. [High-Yield ETFs: Rotation from Junk to Quality]
Meanwhile, in equity ETFs, investors pulled $2.1 billion from SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEArca: SPY) in the latest week, according to Reuters, while ETFs overall posted net outflows of $2.8 billion.
“Some of it is investors just taking a breather,” said Tom Roseen, head of research services at Lipper, in the report. [S&P 500 ETFs Battle Key Resistance After 18% Rally]
iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond
Full disclosure: Tom Lydon’s clients own LQD, HYG, JNK and SPY.