ETFs have typically acted as a timeless investment, attracting investors in all kinds of market conditions over the years. However, recent flows suggest that traders are no longer looking to ETFs on the dip.
In 2018, investors no longer bought the dip but more often than not sold the rip, Reuters reports.
During 2017, investors would often pile on more cash into ETFs when performance was lackluster, helping U.S. markets push to newer heights. According to Goldman Sachs Group Inc research, equity ETFs during the year accounted for more demand than pension funds, mutual funds and foreign investors combined. Throughout the decade-long bull rally, ETFs have been consistent buyers into the markets even as other investors pulled out.
However, in 2018, with the prospects of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike, high corporate borrowing, rising relative yields on short-term bonds, U.S.-China trade troubles and slowing global growth, investors are taking a moment to reassess their penchant for buying up cheap market segments.
Money Managers Struggling
Money managers are struggling to find a footing in either equities and fixed-income assets in a market marked by volatile swings between record highs and steep sell offs. The average U.S.-based equity fund is down 6.3% for the year through mid-December while bonds were down 0.9%.
Consequently, ETF investors are refraining from acting as the traditional role of buyer of last resort. While demand for ETFs remain positive for the year, ETF buyers are growing more reluctant to step in during the worst selling.
“They’re not buying the dip like they were, and they’re selling,” Tom Roseen, head of research services at Lipper, told Reuters.
According to XTF data, U.S.-listed ETFs hold $3.367 trillion in assets under management, with net inflows of $306.1 billion year-to-date. In contrast, the U.S. ETF industry attracted a record $476 billion in new inflows over 2017.
For more information on the ETF industry, visit our ETF Performance Reports category.