Weekly Channel Summary
The Alternative ETF landscape currently manages approximately $10.4B in assets across 46 products from 28 distinct brands. The channel experienced a positive week with net inflows of $31M, contributing to a year-to-date (YTD) total of $218M. This steady accumulation of capital reflects a sustained interest in non-traditional asset classes, which have seen massive growth over the past year with total flows reaching $3.74B. While the Absolute Return categories continue to provide the bulk of the stability in AUM, the Volatility segment remains the primary source of performance variance, driven by shifting market sentiment.
This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards
Performance this week was dominated by a sharp spike in market volatility. The Alternative: Volatility – Long category soared with a weekly return of 6.27%, pushing its YTD return to 8.45%. Conversely, the Alternative: Volatility – Short category tumbled, posting a loss of -2.93% for the week, which deepens its YTD decline to -5.25%. Within the Absolute Return space, the Multi-Strategy category led the pack this week with a gain of 0.34%, successfully navigating the choppy environment that saw more moderate gains for Managed Futures and Event Driven strategies.
Absolute Return Category Performance
| Category | WTD | 1 Month | 3 Month | 6 Month | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute Return – Multi-Strategy | 0.34% | -2.34% | -1.71% | 0.57% | -0.37% | 4.12% |
| Absolute Return – Managed Futures | 0.15% | 1.28% | 6.80% | 13.51% | 4.76% | 9.76% |
| Absolute Return – Event Driven | 0.06% | 0.25% | 0.91% | 3.33% | 0.58% | 8.25% |
Volatility Category Performance
| Category | WTD | 1 Month | 3 Month | 6 Month | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative: Volatility – Long | 6.27% | 9.38% | -19.25% | -26.41% | 8.45% | -29.78% |
| Alternative: Volatility – Short | -2.93% | -5.73% | 6.72% | 8.83% | -5.25% | -9.17% |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance
The top performer for the week was the UVIX (2x Long VIX Futures ETF), which surged 12.52% as market uncertainty spiked. On the other end of the spectrum, the SVIX (-1x Short VIX Futures ETF) and SVXY (ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF) were the week’s primary laggards, falling -6.47% and -3.12% respectively, as short-volatility strategies were penalized by the rising VIX.
| Ticker | Fund Name | WTD Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Top Performers | ||
| UVIX | 2x Long VIX Futures ETF | 12.52% |
| UVXY | ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | 9.04% |
| VXX | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | 6.15% |
| VIXY | ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | 6.12% |
| CTA | Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF | 2.19% |
| Bottom Performers | ||
| SVIX | -1x Short VIX Futures ETF | -6.47% |
| SVXY | ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | -3.12% |
| SVOL | Simplify Volatility Premium ETF | -2.10% |
| ZVOL | Volatility Premium Plus ETF | -1.82% |
| VYLD | Inverse Vix Short-Term Futures ETN | -1.13% |
Analyzing the Weekly Flows
Investor behavior this week was characterized by a rotation into trend-following strategies. The Absolute Return – Managed Futures category was the clear beneficiary, attracting $80M in new capital. Interestingly, we saw profit-taking in the Volatility – Long category, which shed -$41M despite being the top-performing segment. This suggests that investors are treating the volatility spike as a tactical opportunity to harvest gains rather than a long-term core position. The net flow for Absolute Return strategies remains robust, led by Managed Futures, while Event Driven and Multi-Strategy saw marginal outflows of -$1M and -$2M, respectively.
Absolute Return Category Flows
| Category | Fund Count | AUM | 5 Day | 30 Day | 90 Day | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute Return – Managed Futures | 15 | $5.3B | $80M | $249M | $700M | $387M | $2,029M |
| Absolute Return – Event Driven | 9 | $0.5B | -$1M | -$14M | -$2M | -$15M | $29M |
| Absolute Return – Multi-Strategy | 11 | $1.9B | -$2M | $12M | -$43M | $4M | $253M |
Volatility Category Flows
| Category | Fund Count | AUM | 5 Day | 30 Day | 90 Day | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative: Volatility – Short | 5 | $1.1B | -$5M | $6M | -$87M | -$45M | -$351M |
| Alternative: Volatility – Long | 6 | $1.7B | -$41M | -$185M | -$128M | -$114M | $1,780M |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow
The top inflow leader for the week was the DBMF (IMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF), which gathered $40M, representing approximately 1.65% of its AUM. In contrast, the outflow laggards were dominated by volatility products. The UVXY and VXX saw the largest weekly withdrawals of -$29M and -$22M respectively, as investors moved out of VIX-futures-based products despite the underlying index’s performance.
| Ticker | Fund Name | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|---|
| Inflows | ||
| DBMF | IMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF | $40M |
| CTA | Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF | $25M |
| KMLM | KraneShares Mount Lucas Managed Futures Index Strategy ETF | $8M |
| VIXY | ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | $5M |
| UVIX | 2x Long VIX Futures ETF | $5M |
| Outflows | ||
| UVXY | ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | -$29M |
| VXX | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | -$22M |
| SVIX | -1x Short VIX Futures ETF | -$5M |
| WZRD | Opportunistic Trader ETF | -$3M |
| MNA | NYLI Merger Arbitrage ETF | -$2M |
Issuer League Table Update
The issuer landscape is currently dominated by iM and Simplify, which together control over 42% of the market share in the Alternative channel. iM maintains the top spot with a 23.88% market share ($2.48B AUM) and led the week in flows with $40M. Simplify follows with an 18.84% share ($1.96B AUM) and also saw significant weekly growth. Meanwhile, ProShares remains a significant player with an 8.75% share, though it experienced the largest weekly outflows of -$23M.
Top 5 Issuers by AUM
| Brand | Fund Count | AUM | AUM Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| iM | 1 | $2.48B | 23.88% |
| Simplify | 3 | $1.96B | 18.84% |
| New York Life Investments | 2 | $1.03B | 9.91% |
| ProShares | 6 | $0.91B | 8.75% |
| iPath | 2 | $0.64B | 6.15% |
Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow
| Brand | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|
| Inflows | |
| iM | $40M |
| Simplify | $25M |
| KraneShares | $8M |
| Outflows | |
| ProShares | -$23M |
| iPath | -$22M |
| New York Life Investments | -$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.
