Granted, that ETF holds defense stocks alongside machinery companies, but investors also flocked to consumer discretionary and financial funds last week. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust -- the world’s largest ETF -- meanwhile saw inflows of $4.6 billion.
“The escalation of tensions with Iran warrants close watching,” said Sandip Bhagat, Whittier Trust’s chief investment officer, citing its potential impact on oil prices and global growth. “Even as uncertainty dissipated on several fronts in late 2019, the early days of 2020 have now seen an unexpected spike in geopolitical risks.”
While gold prices have jumped in recent days, cash has yet to flood back into ETFs that own the precious metal. Going into the year, appetite for the safety of gold ETFs had soured, with funds tracking the commodity losing cash in the fourth quarter for the first time in over a year.
Still, after weeks of underperformance, Todd Rosenbluth, director of ETF research at CFRA Research, sees potential upside for some more conservative strategies, such as those that pick low-volatility stocks.
The firm’s equity analysts hold a year-end price target for the S&P 500 of 3,435. That would imply a gain of roughly 6%, far short of last year’s performance, and potentially a boon for funds like the $37 billion iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF, which trades under the ticker USMV.
“Given a lower expected return, we think investors will continue to focus on ways to reduce their equity risk profile and USMV is built to do just that,” according to Rosenbluth.
This article provided by Bloomberg News.