Small Caps Are Suddenly Back In Vogue As Q1 Draws To An End
Analyst Paul Weisbruch of Street One Financial brings us his daily fund flows update, which today focuses on a renewed interest in small cap stocks, reversing an earlier trend, along with big-time inflows into emerging markets amid end-of-quarter portfolio repositioning.
We spoke about end of the quarter position trimming in SPY that has been occurring lately but also of the notable inflows into lagging Small Caps via IWM (iShares Russell 2000). IWM has seen over $2.5 billion enter the fund via creations lately, while SPY leads all ETPs in net outflows this week (seeing over $3.5 billion leave the fund in the past forty-eight hours).
Additionally, we spoke about IEMG (iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets) packing in about $1.4 billion in recent sessions, as has the larger EEM (iShares MSCI Emerging Markets). Emerging Markets Bonds have also entered the fray via EMB (iShares JPM USD Emerging Markets Bond) creations (over $650 million in).
All of the trading we have noted this week seems to be portfolio managers reconfiguring portfolios going into the end of the quarter, in response to the recent weakness off of all-time equity highs. It’ll be interesting to see how this trend continues to play out next week, with only five trading days left in the month and quarter.
The iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (NYSE:IWM) was trading at $135.29 per share on Friday morning, up $0.9 (+0.67%). Year-to-date, IWM has gained 0.33%, versus a 4.99% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.
IWM currently has an ETF Daily News SMART Grade of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #1 of 28 ETFs in the Small Cap Blend ETFs category.
Disclaimer: The content of this article is excerpted from a daily newsletter from Street One Financial. While ETF Daily News may edit the contents and add a relevant title to the piece, the author, Paul Weisbruch, does not endorse or recommend any issuer or security mentioned herein.
Paul Weisbruch is the VP of ETF/Options Sales and Trading at Street One Financial. Prior to joining the team at Street One, Paul served as the Director of RIA and Institutional ETF Sales at RevenueShares ETFs from December 2007 until November of 2009. Before RevenueShares, Paul was employed by Susquehanna International Group from 2000 until 2007 serving in roles including OTC/NYSE Institutional Block Trading, Nasdaq/OTC Market Making, ETF/Derivatives Intelligence and Strategy, Algorithmic Trading, as well as acting as the PHLX Floor Specialist in the ETFs, SPY and DIA.Paul has been actively involved in the ETF space from both a product and trading standpoint since 2000. Additionally, Paul has well forged relationships with national RIAs, institutional pension fund managers and consultants, mutual fund and hedge fund managers, and also the ETF media. Co-authoring the “S1F ETF Daily” since 2009, the daily piece has become a must for many portfolio managers in the ETF space, with segments regularly appearing in the likes of Barron’s, WSJ, and ETFTrends.com for instance.
He holds his Series 4 (Registered Options Principal), 6, 7, 55 (Equity Trader), 63, and 65 licenses. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh (B.S. – Economics), graduating magna cum laude, and has an MBA from Villanova University.
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