Thematic Recap: Natural Resources and Silver Miners Surge as FinTech Falters

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Weekly Channel Summary

The Thematic ETF landscape remains a massive segment of the market, currently encompassing 100 brands and 406 ETFs with total Assets Under Management (AUM) of $325 billion. The past week saw significant activity with $4.84 billion in net weekly inflows, contributing to a strong Year-to-Date (YTD) flow of $12.25 billion. Over the trailing 12 months, the channel has attracted a staggering $62.14 billion in net new money, highlighting continued investor conviction in specialized growth themes despite varying performance across sub-sectors.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

Performance this week was dominated by a massive surge in the Precious Metals category, which posted a remarkable 12.15% return. This move pushed its YTD performance to a blistering 28.05%. Natural Resources also showed strength with a 4.28% weekly gain. Conversely, the FinTech category was the primary laggard, falling -3.35% for the week, though it remains up 10.26% YTD.

Category Performance Snapshot

Category WTD 1 Month 3 Month 6 Month YTD 1 Year
Precious Metals 12.15% 22.69% 57.00% 115.73% 28.05% 221.70%
Natural Resources 4.28% 15.29% 23.89% 43.04% 16.24% 64.87%
Sustainability 1.92% 7.38% 8.37% 26.56% 9.16% 46.40%
Health Innovation 1.48% 3.24% 12.91% 27.93% 4.97% 25.49%
Midstream & MLPs 0.92% 4.80% 7.62% 7.13% 4.91% 2.41%
Infrastructure 0.10% 4.82% 4.85% 11.80% 5.73% 22.94%
Industrial Revolution -0.09% 9.79% 9.44% 21.38% 11.10% 36.14%
Thematic – Multi-Sector -0.20% 2.44% 2.45% 11.58% 4.30% 16.90%
Evolving Consumer -0.39% 0.07% -3.25% 6.77% 0.67% 17.78%
Disruptive Tech -0.42% 0.59% -2.04% 8.19% 1.84% 15.16%
Alternative Equity -1.85% 2.10% 3.87% -6.51% 1.39% -3.93%
FinTech -3.35% 5.27% -12.05% 5.14% 10.26% 16.48%

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance

Individual results were led by silver mining exposure, with the SLVR (Sprott Silver Miners & Physical Silver ETF) gaining a massive 16.71%. On the downside, crypto-related themes suffered, with the CRPT (First Trust SkyBridge Crypto Industry & Digital Economy ETF) and OWNB (Bitwise Bitcoin Standard Corporations ETF) falling -7.21% and -6.34% respectively.

Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
Top Performers
SLVR Sprott Silver Miners & Physical Silver ETF 16.71%
SILJ Amplify Junior Silver Miners ETF 15.43%
SLVP iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF 14.37%
SIL Global X Silver Miners ETF 13.10%
GDXJ VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF 13.09%
Bottom Performers
CRPT First Trust SkyBridge Crypto Industry & Digital Economy ETF -7.21%
OWNB Bitwise Bitcoin Standard Corporations ETF -6.34%
STBQ Amplify Stablecoin Technology ETF -6.09%
DAPP VanEck Digital Transformation ETF -5.78%
SATO Invesco Alerian Galaxy Crypto Economy ETF -5.14%

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

Total net flows for the Thematic channel hit $4.84 billion this week. The Natural Resources category led the way with $1,374M in fresh capital, bringing its total AUM to $55.1 billion. Thematic Multi-Sector also saw significant interest with $1,074M in weekly inflows. On the other end of the spectrum, Evolving Consumer faced the largest headwind with -$168M in weekly outflows.

Category Flows Summary

Category Fund Count AUM 5 Day Flow 30 Day Flow YTD Flow 1 Year Flow
Natural Resources 56 $55.1B $1,374M $4,869M $4,156M $9,833M
Thematic Multi-Sector 43 $29.5B $1,074M $1,280M $1,335M $9,066M
Precious Metals 15 $63.3B $861M $1,524M $1,191M $1,437M
Industrial Revolution 36 $19.9B $798M $2,426M $2,167M $7,465M
FinTech 26 $5.9B $497M $580M $588M $961M
Infrastructure 42 $45.5B $245M $1,586M $1,280M $10,599M
Disruptive Tech 63 $55.0B $118M $1,083M $1,011M $20,680M
Health Innovation 23 $2.6B $41M $142M $141M $85M
Sustainability 27 $7.3B $10M $218M $202M $575M
Alternative Equity 9 $2.4B $9M $67M $39M $728M
Midstream & MLPs 17 $22.5B -$23M $113M $35M $1,477M
Evolving Consumer 46 $16.1B -$168M -$62M $103M -$772M

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow

Flow activity was headlined by the flagship ARKK (ARK Innovation ETF), which brought in $1,057M. In contrast, the ITB (iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF) saw outflows of -$144M, likely reflecting cooling sentiment in the housing sector. The MAGS (Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF) also saw a significant exit with -$95M in weekly redemptions.

Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
Inflows
ARKK ARK Innovation ETF $1,057M
SILJ Amplify Junior Silver Miners ETF $404M
ARKF ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF $393M
ARKX ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF $342M
UFO Procure Space ETF $309M
Outflows
ITB iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF -$144M
MAGS Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF -$95M
ARKW ARK Next Generation Internet ETF -$58M
GGME Invesco Next Gen Media and Gaming ETF -$43M
AMLP Alerian MLP ETF -$25M

Issuer League Table Update

In terms of brand dominance, Global X remains the top issuer by market share at 18.65%, followed by VanEck at 16.69%. ARK had an exceptional week, leading all brands with $1,767M in net inflows. Roundhill saw the largest weekly redemptions among top brands, losing -$95M in flows.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Brand Fund Count AUM AUM Market Share
Global X 36 $60.65B 18.65%
VanEck 18 $54.26B 16.69%
iShares 33 $50.14B 15.42%
First Trust 30 $42.20B 12.98%
ARK 7 $16.75B 5.15%

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow

Brand 5-Day Flow
Inflows
ARK $1,767M
Global X $987M
Amplify $454M
Outflows
Roundhill -$95M
Invesco -$58M
Alerian -$21M

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.