Scalper1 News
The month of November was all about heightened Fed lift-off bets and geo-political flare-ups on the Paris terror attacks. While the first confirms the U.S. growth momentum, more so after the upward revision in the Q3 GDP numbers (from 1.5% to 2.1%), the second points to lingering geopolitical threats in the coming months. Investors seem to have reacted along the headlines. At least, the asset flow pattern says that. Let us explain the trend below. ETF Asset Gainers U.S. After nagging speculations on the rate hike timeline, direct hints from the Fed this time were well digested by the market. Investors appeared to have paid more attention to the improving economy than to the fears that cheap money will now call it quits. As a result, several U.S. ETFs found a place in the top-10 asset gatherers’ list with the large-cap U.S. ETF iShares Russell 1000 ETF (NYSEARCA: IWB ) being at the helm. The fund added over $2.6 billion in assets in the month. This propelled its AUM to $15.1 billion. Three other U.S. ETFs, small-cap iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA: IWM ), large-cap blend Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: VOO ) and large-cap growth ETF iShares Russell 1000 Growth (NYSEARCA: IWF ) added about $2.26 billion, over $811 million and over $717 million, respectively, to their asset base. Total Bond Market Probably to spread out the risk and earn returns in the face of an impending rate hike, investors opted for the total bond market approach. This increased investors’ lure for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond (NYSEARCA: AGG ) which has exposure to both government and corporate bonds. Maturity-wise, the fund follows a diversified approach. AGG hauled in about $2.45 billion to exit the month with about $30 billion in assets. Developed Markets The wave of easy money polices across the international arena, be it in Europe or the Asia-Pacific, has brightened the appeal for the developed market. In fact, the Euro zone is mulling over further policy easing if deflationary risks shoot up. This is why funds like iShares Core MSCI EAFE (NYSEARCA: IEFA ) and iShares MSCI EAFE (NYSEARCA: EFA ) have attracted about $1.53 billion and $1.02 billion, respectively. Another ETF Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (NYSEARCA: VEA ) also added about $755.7 million in assets. ETF Asset Losers Short-term U.S. Bonds The Fed’s plans to raise the benchmark interest rates in December after almost a decade, will no doubt hurt the short-term bond ETFs the most. As expected, investors rushed to leave the zone and as much as $1.36 billion in assets gushed out of the short-term bond ETF iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: SHY ). Another ETF SPDR Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill (NYSEARCA: BIL ) lost $552.8 million in assets. Gold As the Fed is gearing up for policy tightening, the greenback has gained strength and is weighing on gold. Prices of gold slipped to the six-year low in the month. Even a safe haven appeal in the wake of the terrorist attacks in several parts of the globe in November could not hold back investors from fleeing the yellow metal. SPDR Gold ETF (NYSEARCA: GLD ) had to sacrifice about $1.3 billion in net assets. High Yield As the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government note rose to 2.23% (as of November 25, 2015) from 2.20% at the start of the month, investors started to dump all high-yield bond ETFs. Junk bond ETF SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond (NYSEARCA: JNK ) witnessed outflows of about $1.02 billion and took the third spot. Original post Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News