- We estimate that U.S. equity ETFs have shed $900 million in the week ending Jan. 31 (netting a positive $12.4 billion for January), after recording a negative $5.5 billion in November and pulling in $13.0 billion in December. The selling over the past week should cheer bullish market participants. During 2011, U.S. equity ETFs gained $38.6 billion.
- U.S. equity mutual funds, meanwhile, gained $1.2 billion in the week ended January 31, netting a negative $1.2 billion for 2012. It will be interesting to see if U.S. equity mutual funds see net positive flows for all of 2012. We believe that in comparison to the last five years, U.S. equity mutual funds will come in at their highest levels in 2012. From a longer-term perspective, these funds have shed $148 billion since the start of May of 2011 and notched a negative-$134.5 billion flow in 2011. For perspective, the annual outflow in 2008 clocked in at $147.5 billion. Positive U.S. equity mutual fund flows are bearish from a contrarian standpoint.
Charles Biderman is the Chief Executive Officer of
