ETF Investors Chase Higher Yields as Bonds Sell Off

ETF Investors Chase Higher Yields as Bonds Sell Off

Sumit Roy

Tue, September 1, 2026 at 12:31 AM GMT+3 3 min read

Investors added $27.2 billion to US-listed ETFs during the week ending Friday, Aug. 28, pushing year-to-date inflows to $1.38 trillion.

International equity ETFs led the way with $9.1 billion, followed by US fixed income ETFs with $8.6 billion. US equity ETFs took in a relatively modest $2.3 billion, less even than the $2.5 billion that went into currency funds.

The backdrop was a firmer stock market and a softer bond market. The S&P 500 rose about 1% last week, while the 10-year Treasury yield ticked a few basis points higher. On Monday it climbed further, reaching as much as 4.77%, its highest level since January 2025.

Judging by the flows, ETF investors have been treating those higher yields as a buying opportunity.
At the individual fund level, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) led with $11.4 billion, lifting its year-to-date haul to a whopping $106 billion. The Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF (VGSH) followed with $2.7 billion.

Meanwhile, both the AI trade and the debasement trade remained in play, with $1.6 billion flowing into the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) and $1.2 billion into the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT).

For a full list of last week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below.

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Ticker

Name

Net Flows ($, mm)

AUM ($, mm)

AUM % Change<

VOO

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

VGSH

Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF

VTI

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF

SCHO

Schwab Short-Term US Treasury ETF

SMH

VanEck Semiconductor ETF

IJH

iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF

IBIT

iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF

SPTS

SPDR Portfolio Short Term Treasury ETF

RSP

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF

SCHD

Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker

Name

Net Flows ($, mm)

AUM ($, mm)

AUM % Change

SPY

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

-9,785.79

-1.20

IVV

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF

-9,581.86

-1.08

VGIT

Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF

-2,646.80

-6.53

GOVT

iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF

-2,628.57

-6.26

XLF

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund

-1,795.37

-3.28

QQQ

Invesco QQQ Trust Series I

-1,451.19

-0.30

IEF

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF

-1,026.34

-2.44

DRAM

Roundhill Memory ETF

-954.87

-3.63

FAUG

FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - August

-777.85

-59.97

GLD

SPDR Gold Shares

-716.84

-0.47

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

Net Flows ($, mm)

AUM ($, mm)

% of AUM

Alternatives

0.05%

Asset Allocation

1.04%

Commodities E T Fs

0.24%

Currency

1.97%

International Equity

0.30%

International Fixed Income

0.56%

Inverse

1.26%

Leveraged

0.25%

Us Equity

0.02%

Us Fixed Income

0.39%

Total:

0.17%

Disclaimer: All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the article is published. Data is believed to be accurate; however, transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges.

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