Weekly Channel Summary
The Alternative ETF Channel currently represents $12.0B in total Assets Under Management (AUM) across 47 ETFs and 28 unique issuing brands. Over the past five days, the channel experienced solid net inflows totaling $303M. This builds on a longer-term trend of steady asset gathering, with Year-to-Date (YTD) flows sitting at $1.64B and impressive 1-Year flows reaching $4.62B.
This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards
This week showcased a distinct inverse relationship between volatility strategies. Alternative: Volatility – Short funds gained 2.82% WTD despite a challenging YTD environment (-8.17%). Conversely, Alternative: Volatility – Long funds struggled for the week, dropping -6.37%, even though they remain positive YTD at 4.72%. Among the Absolute Return subgroups, the Event Driven category led the pack, managing to post a positive 0.37% return in a generally muted week for the broader multi-strategy and managed futures spaces.
Absolute Return Category Performance
| Category | WTD | 1 Month | 3 Month | 6 Month | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute Return – Event Driven | 0.37% | 0.89% | 0.94% | 2.19% | 1.41% | 8.61% |
| Absolute Return – Managed Futures | -0.69% | -1.04% | 6.53% | 11.93% | 9.84% | 21.48% |
| Absolute Return – Multi-Strategy | -2.06% | -3.06% | -3.12% | -1.24% | -1.04% | 11.67% |
Volatility Category Performance
| Category | WTD | 1 Month | 3 Month | 6 Month | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative: Volatility – Short | 2.82% | 3.03% | -8.69% | 4.00% | -8.17% | 38.12% |
| Alternative: Volatility – Long | -6.37% | -11.24% | 5.80% | -23.35% | 4.72% | -53.37% |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance
The single best-performing ETF for the week was SVIX (-1x Short VIX Futures ETF), gaining 6.40%. On the downside, the two worst performers were WZRD (Opportunistic Trader ETF) plummeting -25.20% and UVIX (2x Long VIX Futures ETF) dropping -12.44%. The performance struggles of UVIX perfectly reflect the pain felt across the Volatility – Long category this week.
| Ticker | Fund Name | WTD Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Top Performers | ||
| SVIX | -1x Short VIX Futures ETF | 6.40% |
| SVXY | ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | 3.15% |
| ZVOL | Volatility Premium Plus ETF | 2.35% |
| ASGM | Virtus AlphaSimplex Global Macro ETF | 2.11% |
| HDG | ProShares Hedge Replication ETF | 1.73% |
| Bottom Performers | ||
| WZRD | Opportunistic Trader ETF | -25.20% |
| UVIX | 2x Long VIX Futures ETF | -12.44% |
| UVXY | ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | -9.09% |
| VIXY | ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | -6.08% |
| VXX | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | -6.06% |
Analyzing the Weekly Flows
The channel recorded a net flow of $303M this week. Interestingly, the category taking in the most fresh capital was Alternative: Volatility – Long at $218M. This strongly indicates contrarian behavior, as investors bought into the category despite its significant weekly underperformance. On the flip side, the largest outflows were seen in the Alternative: Volatility – Short category, bleeding ($51M); this suggests aggressive profit-taking from investors cashing in on its strong weekly gains. Absolute Return funds also saw mixed action, heavily weighted towards Managed Futures taking in $132M.
Absolute Return Category Flows
| Category | Fund Count | AUM | 5 Day | 30 Day | 90 Day | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute Return – Managed Futures | 16 | $6.8B | $132M | $470M | $1,552M | $1,727M | $3,021M |
| Absolute Return – Multi-Strategy | 11 | $2.0B | $6M | $71M | $167M | $163M | $406M |
| Absolute Return – Event Driven | 9 | $0.4B | ($2M) | ($13M) | ($24M) | ($25M) | $2M |
Volatility Category Flows
| Category | Fund Count | AUM | 5 Day | 30 Day | 90 Day | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative: Volatility – Long | 6 | $1.5B | $218M | $91M | ($343M) | ($314M) | $2,693M |
| Alternative: Volatility – Short | 5 | $1.2B | ($51M) | ($17M) | $142M | $86M | ($1,505M) |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow
At the individual fund level, UVIX saw the highest absolute influx of money, gathering $121M (representing a massive 32.60% of its AUM) amid the contrarian buying spree. Conversely, VXX and SVIX experienced the harshest drawdowns, shedding ($51M) and ($45M) respectively over the last five trading days.
| Ticker | Fund Name | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|---|
| Inflows | ||
| UVIX | 2x Long VIX Futures ETF | $121M |
| UVXY | ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | $107M |
| CTA | Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF | $90M |
| VIXY | ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | $44M |
| DBMF | iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF | $37M |
| Outflows | ||
| VXX | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | ($51M) |
| SVIX | -1x Short VIX Futures ETF | ($45M) |
| SVOL | Simplify Volatility Premium ETF | ($13M) |
| ISMF | iShares Managed Futures Active ETF | ($5M) |
| VIXM | ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF | ($3M) |
Issuer League Table Update
iM maintains its iron grip as the top issuer in the space with an impressive 29.38% market share, amounting to $3.53B in assets. Simplify follows comfortably in second place with 18.34% of the market pie and $2.20B. When assessing the flow velocity for the week, ProShares took the top spot, gathering a significant $156M. Meanwhile, iPath faced the strongest headwinds, seeing outflows of ($51M).
Top 5 Issuers by AUM
| Brand | Fund Count | AUM | AUM Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| iM | 1 | $3.53B | 29.38% |
| Simplify | 4 | $2.20B | 18.34% |
| New York Life Investments | 2 | $1.04B | 8.67% |
| ProShares | 6 | $0.90B | 7.46% |
| Volatility Shares | 3 | $0.76B | 6.34% |
Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow
| Brand | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|
| Inflows | |
| ProShares | $156M |
| Simplify | $76M |
| Volatility Shares | $76M |
| Outflows | |
| iPath | ($51M) |
| iShares | ($5M) |
| First Trust | ($4M) |
For a deeper dive into these trends, access our FREE, in-depth Alternative 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.
