The top five ETFs in FlexShares’ line-up that raked in the most new funds in January are largely funds that offer high dividend yields, demonstrating investors’ desire for income amid a period of low-but-rising interest rates.
The FlexShares High Yield Value-Score Bond Index Fund (HYGV) saw the greatest inflows among FlexShares’ line-up during January, garnering a net $54 million, according to ETF Database.
HYGV has an annual dividend yield of 5.98%, higher than the FactSet Segment Average dividend yield of 4.58%, according to ETF Database.
The FlexShares Ready Access Variable Income Fund (RAVI) and the FlexShares iBoxx 3 Year Target Duration TIPS Index Fund (TDTT) took in $26 million and $20 million, respectively, during the month, claiming the second and third spots, according to ETF Database.
RAVI has an annual dividend yield of 0.77%, and TDTT has an annual dividend yield of 4.31%.
Rounding out the top five are the FlexShares Morningstar Developed Markets ex-US Factor Tilt Index Fund (TLTD) and the FlexShares Quality Dividend Index Fund (QDF), which each garnered $15 million and $12 million, respectively, in one-month flows, according to ETF Database.
TLDL and QDF have annual dividend yields of 2.04% and 1.86%, respectively.
Interestingly, only two of the funds that took in the most inflows in January are included in the firm’s top five ETFs by AUM — QDF and TDTT, which have $1.7 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively.
The largest fund by AUM in the FlexShares line-up, the FlexShares Morningstar Global Upstream Natural Resources Index Fund (GUNR), which has $6.8 billion in AUM, notably saw the greatest outflows among the firm’s ETF offerings.
However, those outflows were likely investors looking to cash out their steady returns while the rest of the market faltered. GUNR returned 7.12% in January and saw returns of 31.19% over a one-year period, according to ETF Database. For reference, although it’s a bit like comparing apples to oranges, the S&P 500 closed out January down 5.3%.
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