iShares Leads $2.5B Intake as Bitcoin Spot ETFs Retreat

Issuer League Tables

Issuer activity on Friday was characterized by significant absolute inflows into iShares, which captured $2,516M, reinforcing its market-leading AUM of $4,189.95B. VanEck followed with $702M in daily flows, representing a notable 0.47% of its total assets. Conversely, Grayscale and Fidelity experienced the largest absolute daily outflows among major brands, losing $296M and $156M respectively. On a relative basis, Tradr remained the dominant outlier with a 7.48% increase in assets, while US Commodity Funds saw the sharpest relative decline at 4.36%.

Issuer Flows (Absolute)

Issuer Flows (Relative)

Daily ETF Flow Analysis

The total ETF market saw a net intake of $3,508M for the day, primarily driven by the Equity asset class which recorded $2,583M in positive flows. Fixed Income also contributed meaningfully with $899M, while Digital Assets weighed on the total with $834M in daily outflows. Year-to-date, Equity flows have reached $104,200M, significantly outpacing the $52,857M seen in Fixed Income. Digital Assets remain the largest drag on a YTD basis with a cumulative outflow of $988M.

Asset Class Flows

Top 10 Category Flows

Bottom 10 Category Flows

U.S. Size & Style

The U.S. Large Cap Blend category led the style segments with $1,342M in single-day inflows, significantly bolstered by the $977M addition to IVV. Conversely, Large Cap Value and Growth both recorded deep outflows, losing $369M and $362M respectively. Small Cap styles also saw broad selling pressure, with both Value and Growth segments shedding over $150M each in the daily session. Overall, U.S. Small Cap ETFs recorded a net outflow of $251M, a sharp contrast to the $611M captured by Large Cap funds.

Size & Style ex-U.S.

International developed markets saw robust activity, with the Global Ex-U.S. Large Cap Blend category attracting $1,239M for the day. IDEV was the primary beneficiary, capturing $1,259M in new assets, while Emerging Large Cap funds added $506M. On the trailing one-month view, Emerging Large Cap remains the growth leader with $19,755M in net flows. Outflows were relatively muted in this segment, though JPIN led the laggards with a $22M loss.

Sector & Industry

The Energy sector was the daily standout, generating $767M in flows and reversing a broader 1-year negative trend of $5,616M. Industrials and Financials also remained in favor, adding $341M and $268M respectively during the session. Semiconductors were a bright spot within the broader tech space, as SMH led the group with $230M in new assets. Conversely, Health Care saw broad selling of $629M, with IGV (Software) being the single largest ticker laggard with $430M in outflows.

Region & Country

Latin America led regional equity flows with $49M in new assets, primarily driven by ILF which captured $46M. Taiwan also saw significant interest as EWT added $56M for the day. North American funds recorded a collective $39M inflow, while Asia-Pacific funds experienced a net outflow of $33M. Japan-focused funds like EWJ and BBJP were the primary drags on regional totals, losing $90M and $42M respectively.

Thematic

Natural Resources and Precious Metals miners dominated thematic flows, adding $258M and $190M respectively to their categories. GDX was the session leader, capturing $183M, while metals and mining producer fund PICK added $71M. Overall, thematic equity funds saw a net $517M intake for the session, bringing YTD flows to $16,578M. Outflows were concentrated in Evolving Consumer funds, where ITB lost $36M, the largest decline in the thematic group.

Fixed Income

Fixed income flows favored government and municipal debt, with STIP leading the complex with $391M in new capital. Broad municipal exposure via MUB also recorded a $280M addition, reflecting the $357M total captured by the muni category. On the short end, SGOV and SHY saw combined outflows of $141M as investors rotated out of ultrashort government paper. Intermediate duration funds remained the most stable growth area, attracting $621M for the session.

Commodity

Precious metals were the clear standout in the commodity space, capturing $469M in new assets and reversing a broader 1-week outflow of $813M. IAU led the segment with a significant $595M intake, while GLD followed with $99M. Energy funds, however, experienced deep selling of $148M, led by the $134M loss in USO. Silver also faced pressure as SIVR shed $225M, the largest single-ticker drag in the category.

Cryptocurrency

Digital Asset funds saw a total outflow of $834M for the day, with Bitcoin spot ETFs bearing the majority of the selling pressure at $641M. IBIT led the declines with $318M in outflows, while GBTC shed $119M. Ethereum funds also experienced selling, totaling $96M in daily outflows, primarily from ETHA and major mini-trust variants. Altcoin-focused funds like XRP and CLNK were minor bright spots, attracting $2M and $1M respectively.

Non-Traditional

Non-traditional ETFs recorded $488M in net daily flows, led by the Synthetic Income segment which added $349M. MSFU and JEPQ were the absolute session leaders, capturing $219M and $181M respectively. Leverage and Inverse strategies also contributed $155M, although broad single-stock bulls like METU faced significant selling of $355M. Year-to-date, this category remains the second most active in flows, totaling $81,578M across all specialized subclasses.

Recent Launches

The ETF industry continued its rapid expansion with 331 launches in the past three months, including a flurry of activity in late January. Twin Oak Strategic Solutions ETF (TOS) has seen the strongest initial adoption among recent newcomers, amassing $126.3M in assets within its first few days of trading. Specialized leverage strategies from Tradr, such as SNXX and WDCX, also attracted significant initial capital, totaling over $140M combined. Overall, issuer competition remains high as newer brands like Avory and Income STKd entered the market this month.