Which ETFs Are Investors Buying?
The market's recent run has investors on the hunt for where to put their money. So where are the biggest bets being placed in 2013?
According to data by IndexUniverse, an independent data provider covering the ETF industry, investors seem to be avoiding lower-yielding securities and, instead, piling into more international funds.
WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity, for example, received net flows of over a $1 billion in January. The fund's strategy provides exposure to equities in Japan, while hedging against fluctuations between the value of the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen.
Emerging markets funds, which were hot in 2012, continue to show strength this year on the heels of economic improvements in the U.S. and abroad.
The largest outflows appear to be centered around some of the ETFs tracking U.S. equities, U.S. fixed income and gold.
January 2013 Asset Gainers
| Fund | Ticker | Issuer | Net Flows ($mm) | AUM ($mm) |
| iShares MSCI Emerging Markets | EEM | BlackRock | 3370 | 52126 |
| PowerShares QQQ | QQQ | Invesco PowerShares | 1427 | 32801 |
| Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets | VWO | Vanguard | 1380 | 61432 |
| Vanguard Total Stock Market | VTI | Vanguard | 1146 | 26713 |
| WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity | DXJ | WisdomTree | 1136 | 2453 |
| iShares Russell 2000 | IWM | BlackRock | 1127 | 18188 |
| Vanguard Dividend Appreciation | VIG | Vanguard | 1036 | 13780 |
| Vanguard REIT | VNQ | Vanguard | 999 | 16943 |
| iShares MSCI EAFE | EFA | BlackRock | 922 | 41802 |
| ProShares Ultra Russell 2000 | UWM | ProShares | 735 | 926 |
January 2013 Asset Losers
| Fund | Ticker | Issuer | Net Flows ($mm) | AUM ($mm) |
| SPDR S&P 500 | SPY | SSgA | -4368 | 125631 |
| SPDR Gold | GLD | SSgA | -1200 | 71054 |
| iShares Barclays 3-7 Yr Treasury | IEI | BlackRock | -1046 | 2037 |
| iShares Investment Grade Corp Bond | LQD | BlackRock | -759 | 24271 |
| ProShares Ultra 7-10 Yr Treasury | UST | ProShares | -706 | 19 |
| SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average | DIA | SSgA | -583 | 10960 |
| iShares Barclays 1-3 Yr Treasury | SHY | BlackRock | -549 | 7497 |
| Utilities Select SPDR | XLU | SSgA | -425 | 5377 |
| Market Vectors Gold Miners | GDX | Van Eck | -410 | 7700 |
| SPDR Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill | BIL | SSgA | -403 | 893 |
2012 Asset Gainers
| Fund | Ticker | Issuer | Net Flows ($mm) | AUM ($mm) |
| SPDR S&P 500 | SPY | SSgA | 15767 | 123001 |
| Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets | VWO | Vanguard | 10592 | 59097 |
| iShares MSCI Emerging Markets | EEM | BlackRock | 10506 | 48184 |
| iShares Investment Grade Corp Bond | LQD | BlackRock | 6851 | 25350 |
| SPDR Gold | GLD | SSgA | 5745 | 72239 |
| iShares Core S&P 500 | IVV | BlackRock | 5242 | 35098 |
| Vanguard REIT | VNQ | Vanguard | 4756 | 15386 |
| iShares High Yield Corporate Bond | HYG | BlackRock | 4504 | 15972 |
| Vanguard S&P 500 | VOO | Vanguard | 3815 | 6599 |
| PIMCO Total Return | BOND | PIMCO | 3772 | 3871 |
2012 Asset Losers
| Fund | Ticker | Issuer | Net Flows ($mm) | AUM ($mm) |
| iShares Barclays 1-3 Yr Treasury | SHY | BlackRock | -3013 | 8045 |
| iShares MSCI EAFE | EFA | BlackRock | -2509 | 38815 |
| Utilities Select SPDR | XLU | SSgA | -1992 | 5458 |
| PowerShares US Dollar Index Bullish | UUP | Invesco PowerShares | -1158 | 689 |
| Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3x | FAS | Direxion | -1149 | 1135 |
| Technology Select SPDR | XLK | SSgA | -944 | 8284 |
| iShares Barclays TIPS Bond | TIP | BlackRock | -890 | 22284 |
| ProShares Ultra S&P 500 | SSO | ProShares | -808 | 1279 |
| SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average | DIA | SSgA | -761 | 10923 |
| Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 3x | TNA | Direxion | -683 | 732 |
