Weekly Channel Summary
The Alternative ETF channel remains a critical segment for investors seeking non-correlated returns, currently overseeing $10 billion in total Assets Under Management (AUM) across 46 ETFs from 28 issuers. This past week, the channel attracted $29 million in net new money, extending a positive trend that has seen $142 million in year-to-date (YTD) inflows. This represents a stabilizing shift compared to the massive $4.05 billion gathered over the trailing one-year period, as investors navigate a shifting volatility regime. Activity was primarily driven by the DBMF (Managed Futures) gathering significant assets, while performance across the sub-categories remained highly bifurcated.
This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards
The week was characterized by a sharp inverse performance relationship between Volatility sub-categories. Alternative: Volatility – Long strategies surged with a category average return of 2.55%, a stark contrast to their significant (1.04%) YTD decline and heavy (36.87%) losses over the past year. Conversely, Alternative: Volatility – Short funds struggled, sliding (1.07%) on the week, though they maintain a positive 0.55% YTD return. Within the Absolute Return space, Managed Futures led the pack with a 0.74% weekly gain, continuing its strong YTD run of 3.14%.
Absolute Return Category Performance
| Category | WTD | 1 Month | 3 Month | 6 Month | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute Return – Managed Futures | 0.74% | 4.53% | 4.74% | 12.65% | 3.14% | 7.59% |
| Absolute Return – Multi-Strategy | 0.43% | 1.11% | 0.10% | 3.01% | 1.63% | 4.67% |
| Absolute Return – Event Driven | 0.25% | 0.47% | 1.26% | 3.54% | 0.47% | 8.84% |
Volatility Category Performance
| Category | WTD | 1 Month | 3 Month | 6 Month | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative: Volatility – Long | 2.55% | (10.56%) | (32.98%) | (39.92%) | (1.04%) | (36.87%) |
| Alternative: Volatility – Short | (1.07%) | 4.93% | 18.65% | 23.89% | 0.55% | (1.22%) |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance
At the individual fund level, the top performer was the UVIX (2x Long VIX Futures ETF), which rocketed 5.18% as volatility spiked. This was followed closely by another long volatility fund, UVXY, which rose 4.16%. Conversely, the worst performance came from the WZRD (Opportunistic Trader ETF), which plunged (5.05%), and the SVIX (-1x Short VIX Futures ETF), which fell (2.86%) as the short-volatility trade faced headwinds.
| Ticker | Fund Name | WTD Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Top Performers | ||
| UVIX | 2x Long VIX Futures ETF | 5.18% |
| QIS | Simplify Multi-QIS Alternative ETF | 4.22% |
| UVXY | ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | 4.16% |
| VXX | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | 2.87% |
| VIXY | ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | 2.84% |
| Bottom Performers | ||
| WZRD | Opportunistic Trader ETF | (5.05%) |
| SVIX | -1x Short VIX Futures ETF | (2.86%) |
| SVXY | ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | (1.44%) |
| CTA | Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF | (1.12%) |
| SCLS | Stoneport Advisors Commodity Long Short ETF | (0.56%) |
Analyzing the Weekly Flows
The Alternative channel saw total net inflows of $29 million this week. Managed Futures dominated investor interest, bringing in $38 million—the largest inflow of any sub-category. Interestingly, investors showed contrarian behavior by adding $3 million to Alternative: Volatility – Long, a category that has struggled significantly over the last year. Conversely, Volatility – Short experienced the largest outflows at ($17 million), suggesting profit-taking or risk-reduction as volatility began to rise. The “Absolute Return” groups saw a mixed but generally positive net flow picture, with Managed Futures and Multi-Strategy ($4 million) offsetting a minor ($1 million) redemption in Event Driven funds.
Absolute Return Category Flows
| Category | Fund Count | AUM | 5 Day | 30 Day | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute Return – Managed Futures | 15 | $4.9B | $38M | $242M | $175M |
| Absolute Return – Multi-Strategy | 11 | $1.9B | $4M | ($56M) | ($4M) |
| Absolute Return – Event Driven | 9 | $0.5B | ($1M) | $8M | ($2M) |
Volatility Category Flows
| Category | Fund Count | AUM | 5 Day | 30 Day | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative: Volatility – Long | 6 | $1.7B | $3M | $111M | $29M |
| Alternative: Volatility – Short | 5 | $1.2B | ($17M) | ($113M) | ($56M) |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow
The top inflow leader was the DBMF (IMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF), which gathered $34 million, representing 1.53% of its AUM. Interestingly, the long-volatility fund VIXM saw a significant relative inflow of $7 million, which accounts for nearly 15% of its total assets. On the outflow side, the VXX (iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN) led redemptions with ($11 million) leaving the fund, followed by the SVOL (Simplify Volatility Premium ETF) at ($8 million).
| Ticker | Fund Name | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|---|
| Inflows | ||
| DBMF | IMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF | $34M |
| VIXM | ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF | $7M |
| FLSP | Franklin Systematic Style Premia ETF | $5M |
| UVXY | ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | $4M |
| WTMF | WisdomTree Managed Futures Strategy Fund | $4M |
| Outflows | ||
| VXX | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | ($11M) |
| SVOL | Simplify Volatility Premium ETF | ($8M) |
| SVIX | -1x Short VIX Futures ETF | ($7M) |
| SPC | CrossingBridge Pre-Merger SPAC ETF | ($4M) |
| CTA | Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF | ($4M) |
Issuer League Table Update
In the issuer landscape, IM and Simplify remain the dominant players, together accounting for over 41% of the channel’s AUM. IM leads with 22.39% market share ($2.26B), followed by Simplify at 18.90% ($1.90B). IM also took the top spot for weekly inflows, bringing in $34 million. Meanwhile, Simplify faced the largest headwinds, recording ($12 million) in net outflows for the week.
Top 5 Issuers by AUM
| Brand | Fund Count | AUM | AUM Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| IM | 1 | $2.26B | 22.39% |
| Simplify | 3 | $1.90B | 18.90% |
| New York Life Investments | 2 | $1.05B | 10.38% |
| ProShares | 6 | $0.95B | 9.47% |
| iPath | 2 | $0.64B | 6.40% |
Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow
| Brand | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|
| Inflows | |
| IM | $34M |
| ProShares | $8M |
| First Trust | $7M |
| Outflows | |
| Simplify | ($12M) |
| iPath | ($11M) |
| Crossing Bridge Funds | ($4M) |
For a deeper dive into these trends, access our FREE, in-depth Thematic ETF reports in the right side panel of this page.
Disclosures
This material is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. All investments, including ETFs, involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Investors should consider their investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.
This analysis was developed by the team at ETF Action. We leverage advanced AI tools to assist in the drafting and refinement of our content, based on our expert prompts, direction, and final review.
