After the phenomenal January month where U.S. markets hit all-time highs, stocks took a sudden nose dive and suffered through extended volatility over the February and March months. The sudden prospect of a trade war, inflationary fears and central bank policies all contributed to the heightened uncertainty in the markets that dragged U.S. benchmarks into correction territory.
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On the other hand, international and small-cap funds still showed some strength. U.S. small-cap funds added $2.84 billion while global stocks for developed markets excluding the U.S. attracted $5.5 billion in inflows.
“The inflows into international and small-cap funds shows that investors were just reducing their large-cap exposure, they weren’t shying away from ETFs in general,” Bartolini added. “There continues to be a generational shift toward ETFs; even with the outflows, usage continues to go higher.”
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