A Big Week for ETFs as Investors Pile In

The exchange-traded fund (ETF) is often a draw for many investors, as it allows for a very simple way to diversify investments all at once. Some of them also come with healthy dividends, too, an exciting notion for a potential income investor like a retiree. This week, however, proved a huge week for ETFs, as investors poured a massive combined total of cash into ETF coffers.

All told, investors laid roughly $31.3 billion into ETFs—and some more conventional funds—just this week alone. In fact, ETFs have excited investors to no end of late, with four of the last five weeks featuring positive inflows. However, several major funds traded lower today, including the SPRD S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:SPY), the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ), the iShares Core S&P 500 (NYSEARCA: IVV), and the iShares MSCI Emerging Market ETF (NYSEARCA:EEM). Meanwhile, fractional gains were spotted with the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:AGG) and the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:LQD).

Indeed, money market funds in general pulled interest, bringing in a combined $35.8 billion, even as taxable bond funds saw $2.3 billion slide out on rising rates. Interestingly, the iShares Core Aggregate Bond ETF lost around $773 million, but still gained in Friday afternoon’s trading session. The iShares iBoxx fund lost $717 million, and also gained on Friday. It’s a strange mix of gainers and decliners, and shows us just what kind of market we’re dealing with these days, where losers can become gainers and gainers can lose ground.

Three of the six funds here have an analyst consensus rating; the SPDR S&P 500 fund, the Invesco QQQ fund and the iShares Core S&P 500 fund all are considered Moderate Buys by analysts. Each has a comparable upside potential as well, coming in at 16.8%, 18.82%, and 16.91% respectively.

Disclosure