20/05/25 11:10:31

ETFs: “A lot of money is flowing into the global indices”

There is a clear buying overhang in index fund trading. Global indices, defense and technology ETFs are particularly sought after. Corporate bonds and gold ETCs are also being bought.


20 May 2025 The positive sentiment on the stock markets continues to ensure strong demand for the index funds traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. “Overall, we had around 80 percent more purchases than sales,” says Holger Heinrich from Baader Bank AG, looking back on the last few trading days. Global ETFs in particular are being bought. Various MSCI World variants such as the MSCI World Socially Responsible (IE00BK72HM96), the MSCI World Swap (LU0659579733), the MSCI World Selection (IE000V6KDJC9) and the MSCI High Dividend (IE000NS5HRY9) are on the buy list.

The MSCI World ex USA (IE0009BI8Z04), which has been a strong focus for investors in recent weeks, also remains popular. Frank Mohr from Société Générale reports purchases of the MSCI World ETFs from iShares (IE00B4L5Y983) and Amundi (IE000BI8OT95) as well as the Vanguard FTSE Developed World (IE00BKX55T58). As an explanation, he points to many savings plan executions in the middle of the month. “A lot of money always flows into the global indices”.

Mixed picture for US index funds

According to Mohr, US index funds were in even greater demand this time. After the majority of sales were recorded here recently, purchases are currently dominating again. The iShares S&P 500 (IE00B5BMR087) is at the top of the turnover rankings. However, the BNP Easy S&P 500 (FR0011550177) and the iShares Nasdaq 100 (DE000A0F5UF5) are also very popular. Heinrich reports on purchases in the American small cap sector, namely the Invesco S&P Small Cap 600 (IE00BH3YZ803). However, he also sees sales for various variants of the S&P 500 (IE000QF66PE6, IE00BM67HW99, IE000LAP5Z18).

According to Heinrich, European ETFs are also seeing “repeated sales among the transactions”. Recently, these index funds have been in high demand. The trader saw sell-offs in the Amundi STOXX Europe 600 (LU1574142243) and dividend-related ETFs such as the Xtrackers MSCI Europe High Dividend Yield ESG (IE000WQ16XQ4). The HSBC EURO STOXX 50 (IE00B4K6B022), the Xtrackers MSCI Europe ESG (IE0004ZJGWT9) and the UBS ETF (LU) MSCI Europe UCITS (LU1600334798) were purchased by the majority of investors. Away from the western markets, Mohr notes some purchases of the iShares Core MSCI EM IMI (IE00BKM4GZ66) and the UBS ETF (LU) Core MSCI EM (LU0480132876).

Strong focus on defense and technology

In terms of sector ETFs, “defense securities” such as WisdomTree Europe Defence (IE0002Y8CX98), VanEck Defense (IE000YYE6WK5) and Global X Defence Tech (IE000JCW3DZ3) continue to be the sales drivers, as Ivo Orlemann, trader at ICF Bank, explains. According to Mohr, the iShares S&P 500 Information Technology Sector (IE00B3WJKG14) and Xtrackers Artificial Intelligence & Big Data (IE00BGV5VN51) are also particularly popular. “Tech buyers have returned”. There is also greater interest in the Health Care (IE00BYZK4669, IE00BYZK4776) and Financials (IE000KYX7IP4) segments. “The latest news from the banking sector was not so bad,” says Mohr, looking for possible reasons for this.

Mohr

Frank Mohr

Corporate bonds are being bought

In the bond segment, the focus remains on money market products, which are “being bought heavily”. However, Mohr also sees some buying in the corporate bond segment. The iShares EUR High Yield Corp Bond (IE00B66F4759) and the iShares Core EUR Corp Bond (IE00B3F81R35) are being sought after. In terms of commodity ETCs, Orlemann reports several investments in Invesco Physical Gold (IE00B579F325). Trading in cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, has “completely fallen asleep”.

By Thomas Koch, 20 May 2025, Deutsche Börse AG ©

Thomas Koch is a CEFA investment analyst, investment specialist for structured products and certified certificate consultant. He has been a freelance journalist covering events on the capital markets since the beginning of 2006.

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