24/06/25 11:56:02

ETFs: “Europe First”

European equity ETFs continue to be in high demand. Defense trackers are also very popular. By contrast, US index funds are seeing profit-taking, and corporate bonds are also being sold off.


24 June 2025. The outperformance of European equities relative to the US has melted away in recent weeks. Over a two-month period, the S&P 500 gained 13 per cent, more than twice as much as the STOXX 600. However, the latter is still around three percentage points ahead since the beginning of the year. Investors on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange are increasingly taking advantage of the rally in US stocks to take profits. “We are currently seeing more sales in US index funds,” explains Frank Mohr of Société Générale. He sees significant declines, particularly in the SPDR S&P 500 (IE00B6YX5C33), known as the “Spider.”

Profit-taking on the US market

Holger Heinrich of Baader Bank AG also reports a slight selling surplus for US stocks. Among others, the actively managed and currency-hedged JPM US Research Enhanced Index Equity Active (IE000CN8T855), the iShares NASDAQ 100 Top 30 (IE000Z7P04F4) and the currency-hedged Invesco EQQQ Nasdaq-100 (IE00BYVTMS52) are being sold. Various versions of the MSCI USA (LU0136234654, IE00BDGV0415, IE00B78JSG98) are also on the sales list. On the other hand, orders are being placed for the currency-hedged Xtrackers S&P 500 (IE00BM67HW99) and the First Trust SMID Rising Dividend Achievers (IE0001R850E1).

Favorites from Europe and emerging markets

The picture for German and European equities is quite different. “The share of these ETFs on the buy side continues to grow,” explains Mohr. The Xtrackers DAX (<LU0274211487>) and index funds on the STOXX Europe 600 (DE0002635307, LU0908500753) are particularly in demand. Baader Bank's customers are also snapping up specialties such as the Global X EURO STOXX 50 Covered Call (IE000SAXJ1M1) and the SPDR EURO STOXX Low Volatility (IE00BFTWP510). On the other hand, the small-cap segment (IE00B02KXM00) is currently being sold off.

Mohr

Frank Mohr

According to Mohr, emerging markets are receiving increasing attention. “It is evident that investors are now also looking at other regions.” The iShares Core MSCI EM (IE00BKM4GZ66) and the Xtrackers MSCI Emerging Markets (LU0292107645) are particularly actively traded.

Defense remains a hot topic

In the sector ETF segment, interest in defense trackers remains high. Ivo Orlemann from ICF Bank reports numerous orders for the WisdomTree Europe Defense (IE0002Y8CX98) once again. However, he also notes some larger sales. Mohr, meanwhile, is observing increased selling in the technology sector. Particularly affected: the MSCI World Information Technology (IE00BM67HT60, LU0533033667). The Xtrackers Artificial Intelligence & Big Data UCITS ETF 1C (IE00BGV5VN51), on the other hand, remains as popular as ever. Also in demand is the VanEck Space Innovators (IE000YU9K6K2), which tracks space stocks filtered according to ESG criteria.

Ivo Orlemann

Ivo Orlemann 

Bonds are being sold

An unusual picture is emerging for bond index funds. “For once, overnight trackers are not at the top of the sales rankings,” Mohr notes. Among other things, this is due to several sales of the iShares Core EUR Corp Bond (IE00B3F81R35), which offers access to euro-denominated corporate bonds.

By Thomas Koch, 24 June 2025, © Deutsche Börse AG

Thomas Koch is a CEFA investment analyst, investment specialist for structured products, and certified certificate advisor. Since early 2006, he has been covering capital market events as a freelance journalist.

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