Billions are flowing to cash-like ETFs in 'hunt' before Fed hike

As investors brace for an increasingly aggressive US Federal Reserve (Fed), money is flooding into cash-like exchange-traded funds (ETFs) - which are seen as relatively less vulnerable to interest-rate risk. 

Traders have been piling into ETFs mostly focused on ultra-short instruments like treasury bills, while offloading ETFs tracking longer-dated debt - even those that are considered short-term bonds maturing in five years or less. 

The $14-billion PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ETF (ticker MINT) lured inflows of nearly $900 million in the best week since it started trading in 2009, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg.

Meantime, roughly $1.6 billion was pulled from the $39 billion Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF (BSV) - the biggest withdrawal in three years.