ETF Fund Flows (Week Ending 3/14/08)

By Matthew Hougan

For the first time in recent memory, new money flooded into the ETF industry last week, as investors created a net $8.7 billion in new ETF shares. 143 ETFs saw net creation activity for the week ending March 14, while 125 had net redemption activity. The size of the creations far outweighed the size of the redemptions, leading to the sharp growth in new shares created.

Largest Net Creations

The Select Sector SPDR - Financial (XLF) led in new creation activity for the week, posting $2.85 billion in net creations. Indeed, financial ETFs did well on the creation front in general: Notice the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Broker-Dealers Index Fund (IYR), which saw $284 million in net creation activity, more doubling the size of the fund. SSgA's KBW Regional Banking ETF (KRE) also saw strong inflows. Of course, a lot of the activity in these ETFs represented short activity as investors positioned around the Bear Stearns news.

Interestingly, there was also strong creation activity in some "mainline" ETFs. The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) posted $2.7 billion in net creation activity, while the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) saw $2.3 billion. The DJIA Diamonds (DIA) did well too, with $742 million in net creations. Clearly, investors were using these ETFs (both long and short) to position money quickly during the volatile markets of last week.

Largest Net Creation Activity: Week Ending March 14, 2008
Fund Name	Ticker	Net Assets	Net Creation Activity
Select Sector SPDR-Financial	XLF	$7,776,786,316	$2,849,336,000
iShares Russell 2000	IWM	$11,656,539,000	$2,664,933,000
S&P 500 SPDR	SPY	$68,153,505,242	$2,315,898,000
DJIA DIAMONDS	DIA	$9,478,061,708	$742,065,000
Select Sector SPDR-Utilities	XLU	$2,190,965,154	$407,575,500
iShares DJ US Real Estate	IYR	$1,908,036,000	$284,310,000
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Broker-Dealers Index Fund	IAI	$392,462,000	$267,036,000
S&P 400 MidCap SPDR	MDY	$7,416,507,120	$254,106,000
SPDR S&P Retail ETF	XRT	$361,647,000	$188,551,000
Rydex Japanese Yen Trust	FXY	$1,260,475,000	$178,650,000
KBW Regional Banking	KRE	$533,219,508	$163,122,000
Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth	VOT	$548,703,761	$159,824,000
streetTRACKS Gold Trust	GLD	$21,048,125,000	$158,480,000
Oil Services HOLDRS	OIH	$2,458,161,510	$155,254,890
Vanguard Pacific ETF	VPL	$1,533,443,932	$153,623,870
iShares MSCI-Taiwan	EWT	$3,154,860,000	$149,940,000
Vanguard Small-Cap Growth	VBK	$829,594,424	$136,598,000
ProShares UltraShort S&P 500	SDS	$3,045,195,000	$128,115,000
PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund	DBC	$2,514,232,000	$116,760,000
Vanguard Emerging Markets	VWO	$6,012,875,804	$104,639,312

Net Redemption Activity

On the redemption side, the iShares MSCI-Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) led all ETFs with $1.3 billion in net redemption activity. From there, it's hard to pick out a trend among the remaining funds.

One item of note is the United States Oil Fund (USO), which saw $175 million in net redemption activity last week, even as oil surged to a new record high. That fund, which once had over $1 billion in assets, now is down to just $411 million, as competing commodity futures funds have nudged their way into the picture.

Largest Net Redemption Activity: Week Ending March 14, 2008
Fund Name	Ticker	Net Assets	Net Redemption Activity
iShares MSCI-Emerging Markets	EEM	$23,399,127,000	($1,252,803,000)
Select Sector SPDR-Energy	XLE	$4,990,784,964	($403,436,000)
iShares Lehman 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Fund	SHY	$9,574,434,000	($311,022,000)
iShares MSCI-EAFE	EFA	$45,296,556,000	($298,284,000)
Select Sector SPDR-Materials	XLB	$1,248,915,444	($210,426,000)
iShares Russell 2000 Value	IWN	$3,232,052,000	($199,348,000)
United States Oil Fund LP	USO	$410,639,000	($174,740,000)
iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund	TLT	$1,565,291,000	($168,714,000)
iShares MSCI-Japan	EWJ	$7,486,830,000	($167,670,000)
Vanguard European ETF	VGK	$2,713,717,115	($156,792,281)
iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25	FXI	$4,989,621,000	($140,458,500)
iShares MSCI-Malaysia	EWM	$1,124,913,000	($134,853,000)
iShares Russell 1000 Value	IWD	$8,360,790,000	($109,530,000)
iShares MSCI-Hong Kong	EWH	$2,063,739,000	($94,824,000)
iShares Russell 1000	IWB	$3,607,791,000	($79,134,000)
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF	XME	$537,134,000	($73,580,000)
iShares Russell MidCap Value	IWS	$2,612,204,000	($70,774,000)
Biotech HOLDRS	BBH	$728,761,798	($66,527,595)
iShares MSCI-South Korea	EWY	$2,870,100,000	($63,780,000)
SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production	XOP	$246,420,000	($62,974,000)

ETF League Table: Week Ending March 14, 2008

State Street Global Advisors rode strong demand for its Select Sector SPDRs and SPY ETFs to post by far the largest net creation activity by fund family. SSgA also saw the largest boost in net assets, which jumped $8.3 billion. That compares with its chief rival BGI, which saw little net creation activity and actually lost more than $500 million in assets on the week.

After SSgA, Vanguard showed continued strong growth with nearly a billion dollars in net creation activity and more than $1.3 billion in total net new assets. The company now has more than $43 billion in net assets.

ProShares, Rydex and BGI rounded out the top five for net creation activity.

On the flip side, Victoria Bay Asset Management saw the largest net redemptions by far, at $160 million.

ETF Families Sorted By Net Creation Activity For The Week Ending March 14, 2008
Family	Net Creation	Net Assets	Net Asset Change
SSgA	$6,563,995,000	$142,398,471,114	$8,319,756,006
Vanguard	$926,757,352	$43,236,063,999	$1,320,065,770
ProShares	$763,646,250	$16,302,849,070	$292,965,840
Rydex	$356,262,450	$5,910,276,138	$431,245,178
BGI	$144,075,500	$301,012,441,800	($541,525,600)
PowerShares	$56,531,820	$36,350,857,900	$340,499,268
MacroShares	$32,080,000	$120,300,000	$32,102,000
HOLDRS	$18,964,822	$7,128,570,590	$18,389,119
WisdomTree	$17,781,000	$4,210,480,000	($5,263,000)
First Trust	$6,961,000	$883,617,181	$13,552,572
SPA ETFs	$1,981,000	$16,331,726	($1,859,486)
Ameristock	-	$13,324,752	$66,528
Fidelity	-	$78,156,000	$54,000
FocusShares	-	$22,885,602	$1,137,952
XShares	-	$243,697,074	($781,292)
Ziegler	-	$7,156,160	$109,440
RevenueShares	-	$14,553,164	$126,882
GreenHaven	($3,580,000)	$32,220,000	($3,250,000)
Claymore	($15,358,500)	$1,820,415,628	($24,050,940)
Van Eck	($46,586,500)	$5,427,725,075	($35,463,725)
Victoria Bay	($159,779,000)	$1,026,486,000	($107,482,000)