With volatility dominating the markets since February, investors in ETFs (exchange traded funds) remain risk averse. Even if they distinguish between the different classes of financial assets.
According to Morningstar estimates, net outflows from equity index funds in June were approximately 1,6 billion euros in a market context that gave little satisfaction, despite the appreciation of some currencies, including the dollar, which smoothed losses for euro investors. The categories most affected were theEquity European, Japanese and emerging markets, while specialist ETFs on Wall Street and the Swiss Stock Exchange had positive net flows.
Bond instruments recorded positive funding, but less than one billion, thanks to purchases of government bonds in euros and dollars.
In terms of commodities, investor interest has been directed towards energy and diversified baskets. On the other hand, precious metals were penalised, mainly due to the drop in gold prices.
Technology and health hand in hand
A deeper analysis of the flows shows that there hasn't been the traditional opposition between technology and defensive sectors. ETFs specializing in US high-growth stocks performed well, as did instruments with a focus on the hi-tech industry. At the same time, there was a positive inflow from Swiss equities, which have many pharmaceutical stocks in their belly.
Who goes up and who goes down
Among the issuers, the dominant sign is the minus. Xtrackers (Deutsche Bank) suffered the largest outflows, mainly attributable to replicants on the Eurozone and Japan. Source (Invesco) saw redemptions on precious metals and sectoral products. Amundi was penalized by outflows from various geographical ETFs.
