Emerging market ETFs close to erasing pandemic-driven outflows, shows data

A wave of investment in emerging-market exchange-traded funds is about to erase pandemic-driven outflows of as much as $20 billion earlier in the year.
 

US-listed ETFs that invest across developing nations as well as those that target specific countries received $2.17 billion in the week ended December 11, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
 

That was the sixth straight week of inflows in a $11.5 billion streak that has trimmed the year-to-date outflow to $1.42 billion.

Inflows were led by the $65.9 billion iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, the second largest of its kind, as it received $1.2 billion last week, the largest investment in a year.

 

Russia was the highlight among country-specific ETFs, as the top $1.7 billion VanEck Vectors Russia ETF, or RSX, received a $81 million inflow, the seventh in a row.
 

Meantime, the pace of inflows to China-focused funds slowed down as the $3.6 billion. The pick up in emerging-market ETF flows comes as the MSCI Emerging Markets Index is about to surpass its 2018 high, which would take the gauge to a 13-year record.
 

Signs of progress for a US stimulus deal and hopes that Covid-19 vaccination campaigns will give the global economy a boost next year are driving investors into riskier assets.