One Trader Yanks $532 Million From TIPS Fund Before Price Data

(Bloomberg) -- A single investor is likely behind the record outflow from a Charles Schwab Corp. inflation-focused bond fund, just hours before U.S. consumer price data dropped.

The $8.5 billion Schwab U.S. TIPS exchange-traded fund, ticker SCHP, saw over 9 million shares worth roughly $532 million hit the tape at 3:22 p.m. in New York on Tuesday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. While it’s unclear if the trade -- the biggest in at least a year -- was to buy or sell shares, its size would account for nearly all of the fund’s $568 million outflow that day.

Schwab, Bank of America Corp. and Voya Investment Management are the only firms with enough holdings in SCHP to make a trade that size, the data show.

The record withdrawal came on the eve of Wednesday’s U.S. inflation report, which showed consumer prices declined in May for a third straight month and barely increased from a year earlier. Inflation-linked securities have struggled in recent months as the coronavirus pandemic crushed economic activity and ushered in a new era of central bank easing.

SCHP gained 4.4% this year through Tuesday, lagging the performance of longer-dated Treasury ETFs.

Following are the fund’s biggest holdings as of June 9:

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