An October Air Pocket
October was a characteristically exciting month in global markets. The S&P 500 shed almost 6% before finishing the month by notching a fresh all-time high. Many of the bears that emerged from hibernation mid-month to herald the beginning of the end of a protracted bull run were left scratching their heads. Those who ignored all this noise were—as always—all the better for having done so.
Our asset flows data indicate that investors were putting on their rally caps, as a combined $11.3 billion in new capital poured into the three S&P 500 ETFs (SPY, IVV, and VOO). Meanwhile, aggregate bond
ETFs (AGG and BND) were amongst the beneficiaries of the exodus from PIMCO Total Return in the wake of Bill Gross’ departure (you can find a comprehensive update on the matter from our Manager Research team here).
It was also a busy news month. M&A activity and new developments in non-transparent actively managed exchange-traded products made headlines. We cover these items in more detail in our “News” section.
To access the full US ETF Observer report, please click here.
