ETF Fund Flows (Week Ending 1/18/08)

In sum, across all 647 U.S. ETFs on the market, there was more than $12.8 billion in net creation activity last week.

Largest Net Creations

Three of the largest ETFs on the market topped the ETF creation list this week. The PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQQ) posted the highest net creations, at $3.1 billion, followed by the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) at $3.1 billion and the iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) at $2.3 billion. The Select Sector SPDR-Financials (XLF) also posted strong creations, at $2.0 billion.

Moving down the list, there was strong demand for overseas and Asian ETFs, with the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM), iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 (FXI), iShares Hong Kong (EWH) and iShares Malaysia (EWM) ETFs all posting strong demand. Beyond that, two agricultural ETFs show up on the Top 20 list as well.

Although there's no way to be sure, much of the demand this week likely came from short demand. As much as I want to have faith in the contrarian bent of ETF investors, I'm guessing there wasn't a huge surge in long demand for the QQQQs.

Top 20 ETFs By Creation Activity - Week Ending January 18, 2008 Fund Ticker Creation Shares Dollar Value PowerShares QQQ Trust QQQQ 68,900,000 $3,124,615,000 S&P 500 SPDR SPY 23,150,000 $3,065,523,000 iShares Russell 2000 IWM 33,950,000 $2,281,100,500 Select Sector SPDR-Financial XLF 80,600,000 $2,048,852,000 Select Sector SPDR-Materials XLB 13,850,000 $519,098,000 Retail HOLDRS RTH 4,477,000 $392,677,670 iShares MSCI-Emerging Markets EEM 2,400,000 $327,840,000 iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 FXI 1,850,000 $293,891,000 PowerShares DB Agriculture DBA 7,200,000 $264,024,000 DJIA DIAMONDS DIA 2,151,150 $260,052,524 Market Vectors-Agribusiness MOO 4,750,000 $237,785,000 Select Sector SPDR-Industrial XLI 6,750,000 $235,035,000 Oil Services HOLDRS OIH 1,240,800 $201,183,312 iShares MSCI-Hong Kong EWH 7,950,000 $161,544,000 iShares MSCI-Malaysia EWM 12,150,000 $158,679,000 iShares Lehman Aggregate Bond AGG 1,300,000 $133,718,000 S&P 400 MidCap SPDR MDY 950,000 $130,511,000 SPDR S&P Retail XRT 4,350,000 $129,325,500 iShares Nasdaq Biotech IBB 1,500,000 $121,425,000 Semiconductor HOLDRS SMH 4,250,000 $118,915,000

Largest Net Redemptions

The most interesting fund to show up on the redemptions list this week is the streetTRACKS Gold Trust (GLD), with total redemptions of $340 million. Beyond that and the iShares S&P 500 ETF (IVV)—the leader in redemptions at $1.2 billion—it's mostly a smattering of funds with relatively small amounts of redemptions.

Top 20 ETFs By Redemption Activity - Week Ending January 18, 2008 Fund Ticker Creation Shares Dollar Value iShares S&P 500 IVV (9,150,000) ($1,213,747,500) streetTRACKS Gold Trust GLD (3,900,000) ($340,158,000) iShares Russell 1000 Growth IWF (5,050,000) ($277,245,000) iShares Russell 1000 Value IWD (3,500,000) ($253,540,000) iShares MSCI-Japan EWJ (16,200,000) ($205,902,000) iShares S&P Europe 350 Index IEV (1,850,000) ($192,714,500) PowerShares DWA Technical Leaders PDP (5,600,000) ($134,120,000) iShares MSCI-Mexico EWW (2,000,000) ($100,900,000) iShares Russell MidCap Value IWS (700,000) ($87,864,000) UltraShort Financials ProShares SKF (675,000) ($86,926,500) iShares MSCI-EAFE EFA (1,200,000) ($86,376,000) iShares MSCI-Canada EWC (3,000,000) ($85,860,000) Rydex S&P Equal Weight RSP (1,850,000) ($78,144,000) iShares DJ US Transportation IYT (950,000) ($71,126,500) iShares MSCI-Spain EWP (1,200,000) ($69,492,000) iShares S&P Latin America 40 ILF (300,000) ($66,207,000) iShares MSCI-Sweden EWD (2,325,000) ($63,519,000) United States Natural Gas UNG (1,600,000) ($61,344,000) iShares Russell 2000 Value IWN (950,000) ($59,536,500) iShares Russell 1000 IWB (750,000) ($53,947,500)

Written by Matthew Hougan