Outflows in ETFs, Funds Increase Amid Volatility

Media reports say a challenging, volatile environment is causing months-long outflows for ETFs. A report in MarketWatch noted that ETFs saw outflows of $679 million in June, which represented the third month of negative flows so far this year. According to the report, if volatility in the equity market persists through the second half of the year, ETF inflows could see further declines.  The report, however, noted that fixed-income ETFs had inflows of nearly $7.5 billion last month, which was offset by $5.86 billion pulled from stock funds, and $2.1 billion withdrawn from commodity-based products. Meanwhile, Bloomberg is reporting that Vanguard saw a 42 percent decline in inflows this year over the same period in 2017.  Bloomberg estimated that in comparison, total U.S. fund inflows, including mutual funds and ETFs, declined by about 50 percent.