July was not a good month for U.S. or European equities and the related exchange traded funds. The S&P 500 fell 2.2% while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 lost 1.1%. Germany’s DAX plunged 5% on the month even as the CurrencyShares Euro Trust (NYSEArca: FXE) dipped 2.1%, indicating some investors are concerned about European stocks even as the euro slides.
Those concerns manifested into the first month of outflows from U.S.-listed exchange traded funds tracking European shares in over a year.
“Strategists point to items such as U.S. exchange-traded funds, which pulled $1.1 billion from European assets this month, the first outflow since April 2013,” report Rachel Evans and Andrea Wong for Bloomberg.
The Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (NYSEArca: VGK), one of the most prolific asset gatherers among all ETFs this year, bled almost $472 million last month. However, not all Europe ETFs are seeing outflows and some still offer plenty of opportunity for investors. [Where First Half ETF Cash Flowed]
The db X-Trackers MSCI Europe Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DBEU) added $17.6 million, which may not sound like much, but remember July was clearly a trying time for Europe ETFs. Plus, $17.6 million of inflows sure looks a lot better than the nearly $472 million lost by VGK.
Not to mention that $17.6 million is nearly 9% of DBEU’s current assets under management tally. That is to say it has taken DBEU just 10 months of trading to reach $202.6 million in AUM. [Beat Euro Risk With This ETF]
“In our view, the effects of a proactive and accommodative European Central Bank will likely serve as a catalyst for an improvement in corporate earnings, an increase in capital expenditures and stronger equity markets in the second half of 2014. A stronger U.S. dollar vs. currencies in Europe will help European exports but may lead to headwinds for unhedged investments,” said Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management Managing Director Dodd Kittsley in an interview with Investor’s Business Daily.