In Rush for the Exits, Investors Yank $1.8 Billion From ETFs

(Bloomberg) -- After trying to buy the dip, investors in bond exchange-traded funds bailed last week.

The $4.4 trillion ETF industry saw outflows of more than $1.8 billion for only the second time since October -- led by fixed-income funds. That was a sharp reversal from the $16.3 billion inflows the previous week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Stocks got whipsawed and Treasuries surged Monday despite dramatic moves from the Federal Reserve and other central banks. The $248 billion SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust -- the world’s biggest ETF -- plunged almost 12% after posting inflows of $9.2 billion last week.

Here are some of the highlights:

Financials

State Street’s Financial Select Sector SPDR fund, ticker XLF, had its worst week of outflows since August, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The $14.8 billion fund lost $1.7 billion in the five days ended March 13. The ETF plunged almost 18% on Monday, before trimming losses to 10%.

Gold

As the precious metal posted its worst week in over three decades, State Street’s SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD)’s outflows were the worst since 2013. The $46.8 billion fund’s price extended losses into a fifth day Monday.

Investment-Grade Bonds

BlackRock’s iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, ticker AGG, lost $3.1 billion last week, the worst since it began trading in 2003. The iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, ticker LQD, posted its fourth straight week of outflows.

To contact the reporter on this story: Claire Ballentine in New York at cballentine@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Rita Nazareth, Dave Liedtka

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