On the other hand, European markets experienced heavy outflows, especially after the so-called Brexit vote. The WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: HEDJ) experienced $7.8 billion in outflows year-to-date while the non-hedged iShares MSCI EMU ETF (NYSEArca: EZU) lost $6.7 billion and Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (NYSEArca: VGK) shrunk by $3.5 billion.
The WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DXJ) saw $5.7 billion in outflows and iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEArca: EWJ) lost $4.3 billion after weak oil prices, uncertainty over China and a negative yield weighed on the Japanese markets.
The Deutsche X-trackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca: DBEF), which includes large weights in European and Japanese stocks, also shrunk by $5.4 billion.
The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: FXI) also made it to the top 10 list, losing $2.3 billion, as the weakening yuan currency and concerns over the economy caused investors to pull out of the emerging market.
The PowerShares QQQ (NasdaqGM: QQQ), which tracks the tech heavy Nasdaq-100 Index, shrunk by $2.2 billion. While the Nasdaq-related ETF attracted inflows over the past few months, QQQ and other growth-related ETFs were pummeled during the early months of the year as investors shifted into the value style and sold off growth.
The sector-specific First Trust Health Care AlphaDEX (NYSEArca: FXH) and First Trust Consumer Staples AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEArca: FXG) saw $2.3 billion and $2.2 billion in outflows, respectively.
For more information on ETF flows, visit our ETF performance reports category.