Equity ETFs saw a combined $32.4 billion and fixed income ETFs saw a combined $33.7 billion in May inflows.
Three funds in ALPS’ range of ETFs — including one newcomer — gained momentum as investors looked for defensive strategies and funds that offer generous income.
The ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (SDOG) remained in the top spot from April, taking in $22 million in net inflows in May compared to $10 million in April inflows, according to VettaFi.
SDOG, which has $1.3 billion in assets under management, has seen $61 million in inflows year to date, according to VettaFi.
This ETF offers exposure to a strategy that is largely similar to the “Dogs of the Dow” approach, which involves a portfolio consisting of the 10 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average with the highest dividend yields. SDOG, however, casts a much wider net by drawing from the S&P 500 as its universe of potential stocks, according to VettaFi.
The fund maintains equal allocations to each of 10 sectors, unlike many dividend-focused products. The portfolio also consists of equal weighting to each individual component stock.
The ALPS Equal Sector Weight ETF (EQL) regained a spot on the leaderboard after waning in popularity in April.
EQL took in $10 million in net inflows in May, bringing the total year-to-date net inflows to $26 million. The fund has $236 million in assets under management, according to VettaFi.
EQL offers exposure to the domestic equity market but utilizes a unique methodology to access this asset class.
Each sector of the economy receives an equal weight in EQL, a strategy that results in a drastically different composition relative to market cap-weighted products such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). EQL is designed to offer more balanced exposure and has the added benefit of avoiding the potentially adverse impact of rallies or crashes in specific sectors of the economy, according to VettaFi.
The ALPS Intermediate Municipal Bond ETF (MNBD), listed May 20 on the NYSE, took in $6 million in its first week of trading, placing it in third place in terms of inflows across the range of ETFs.
MNBD is sub-advised by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. and employs an active, bottom-up investment approach to protect investors’ capital and generate attractive risk-adjusted returns, according to a statement from the firm.
MNDB holds a portfolio of U.S. municipal bonds in the top four credit rating categories (AAA to BBB) that are exempt from federal income tax. Investments may be fixed-, variable-, or floating-rate municipal securities that could include general obligation bonds and auction-rate municipal securities, according to VettaFi.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the ETF Building Blocks Channel.
vettafi.com is owned by VettaFi, which also owns the index provider for SDOG. VettaFi is not the sponsor of SDOG, but VettaFi’s affiliate receives an index licensing fee from the ETF sponsor.
