It may come as a surprise to some that as the S&P500 has remained in a tight trading range over the past month, investors continued to withdraw substantial amounts of cash. According to the latest EPFR weekly data, global equities saw another $3.9bn outflows (comprised of $6.2bn in mutual fund outflows vs $2.3bn ETF inflows), which brings the number of weekly outflows to 5 in the past 6 weeks. Of note here is that while Europe has now suffered a record record 37 straight weeks of outflows, the US has been comparably pressured, with outflows in 6 of the past 7 weeks.
On a global basis, a whoppping $146 billion has now been pulled across equity funds, with $79 billion in ETF inflows offsetting $225 billion in mutual fund outflows.
As money was leaving equities it entered bonds, which saw not only $2.7bn inflows in the latest week, but inflows in 15 of past 16 weeks. Precious metals, the “forgotten category” benefited from $0.5bn in inflows in the last week, making that 4 straight weeks of money being allocated to PMs.
Summary by Asset Class:
- Equities: $3.9bn outflows (outflows in 5 of past 6 weeks), $6.2bn mutual fund outflows vs $2.3bn ETF inflows
- Bonds: $2.7bn inflows (inflows in 15 of past 16 weeks)
- Precious metals: $0.5bn inflows (4 straight weeks)
The breakdown by region:
- EM: $1.0bn inflows (inflows in 15 of past 16 weeks)
- Europe: $1.6bn outflows (record 37 straight weeks of outflows)
- US: $5.1bn outflows (outflows in 6 of past 7 weeks)
- Japan: tiny $22mn inflows (inflows in 6 of past 7 weeks)
- By sector: 4 straight weeks of financials inflows ($0.4bn); 5 straight weeks of materials inflows ($0.3bn); largest REITs outflows in 13 months ($1.0bn); 3 straight weeks of outflows from utilities & telcos; chunky healthcare outflows ($0.7bn.
Some details on fixed income flows:
Fixed Income Flows
- 12 straight weeks of inflows to bank loan funds ($0.6bn)
- 19 straight weeks of TIPS inflows ($0.4bn)
- 16 straight weeks of inflows to EM debt funds ($0.6bn)
- Small $0.1bn inflows to HY bond funds (4 straight weeks)
- $1.5bn inflows to IG bond funds (inflows in 32 of past 33 weeks)
- 2 straight weeks of outflows from munis ($0.2bn) (following 55 straight weeks of inflows)
- 15 straight weeks of outflows from Govt/Tsy funds ($0.5bn)
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So we go back to our favorite question: with everyone pulling their cash, who is buying? Traditionally the normative answer would be buybacks, however we mostly entered buyback week two weeks ago, so the question certainly remains unanswered.
The post Who Is Buying? Another $5 Billion Pulled From US Equity Funds, Outflows In 6 Of Past 7 Weeks appeared first on crude-oil.top.