Investors are voting with their cash in August and shifting money away from funds that focus on stocks, according to Strategas. The S & P 500 has slumped 4% in August, as the stock market appears to be caught in a late-summer doldrum and interest rates have spiked. Fund flows suggest this may be more than just seasonal weakness. Equity exchange-traded funds are on track for their first month of outflows since April 2022, according to Strategas ETF strategist Todd Sohn. “Volumes haven’t spiked to levels consistent with prior extremes, but equity flows are exhibiting early signs of a sentiment shift with August’s month to date tally currently running negative — on pace for just the 9th time since 2018. Money market funds took in +$40 Bn last week, plus ultra-short duration bond ETFs saw over $1 Bn inflows on Thursday, a threshold usually reserved for uneasy environments,” Sohn said in a note to clients Tuesday. Over the past week, the SPDR S & P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) has seen $7 billion in outflows, according to FactSet. Money market funds have been particularly popular this year, as high interest rates have made them attractive places for consumers and investors to park their short-term cash. Money market assets have increased $749 billion over the past six months, according to Strategas, which includes the period of the regional bank crisis earlier this year.
