A steady start to the year: Investors added $142.3B to ETPs globally in January, down from a record $324.6B in December. Equities gathered $61.7B, fixed income took in $57.1B and commodities gained $19.5B.
Equity – Risk taking continues
US exposures led equity flows, gaining $51.3B – albeit down from $134.4B in December. Year-end tax harvesting led to a distortion in flows, particularly in US-listed US equities. Flows into EMEA-listed US equity ETPs rose to $5.4B from $2.1B in December, with a continued preference for unhedged share classes, which gathered $4.4B versus $0.5B into hedged exposures. Hedging demand has likely reset structurally higher, despite having fallen from 2025’s more elevated levels. The proportion of hedged US equity flows in EMEA was c.10% in January – below the 2025 level (38%) but significantly higher than in 2024 (2%).
Investors’ propensity to continue taking equity risk came through in both our client polling data and flows across EMEA-listed equity ETPs. January was a record month for EMEA-listed EM equities, with $8.7B of inflows – mainly into broad exposures. EMEA-listed European equity flows also picked up to the highest level since March 2025 ($9.7B). Global EM equity flows were distorted by a large rotation out of APAC-listed ETPs (-$116.3B, the highest on record), and masked record inflows to US-listed EM equity ETPs ($24.5B). This left overall global EM equity net flows at -$83.4B – the largest outflows on record.
Precision – Broadening out
Inflows into sector ETPs in January highlighted a theme of broadening out beyond tech. The materials sector was the big winner, with a record $22.1B added across geographic exposures, eclipsing the previous record set in October 2025 ($5.2B). Industrials flows also picked up ($4.8B versus $1.5B in December), as did financials ($7.1B versus $2.1B). Healthcare ($5.4B) and energy ($6.3B) – two chronically unloved sectors over the past two years – also continued to gather inflows, with energy inflows hitting the highest level since January 2022. Global tech flows persisted, with $17.6B added, up from $7.5B in December.
This is despite outflows from the US tech sector (-$1.1B – the first outflow month since September). Amid increased focus on commodity price action at the start of the year, investors continued to add to gold in January ($15.5B – the highest inflow month since September). The pickup month-on-month was driven by an increase in APAC-listed flows, with US-listed ($6.5B) and EMEA-listed ($0.7B) flows remaining steady. In contrast, investors rotated out of silver ETPs (-$1.2B), with outflows from EMEA-listed ETPs (-$2.8B) outstripping inflows in APAC and the US.
Fixed Income
Fixed income flows remained strong, at $57.1B, albeit below the $70.0B added in December. Rates ETPs led again ($21.8B), driven by a pickup across geographies, but dominated by US Treasury inflows ($17.9B). IG flows rose to $12.9B, up from $3.7B in December, with eurozone IG ($1.0B) flipping back into positive territory after turning negative at the end of 2025.
Similar to the rates backdrop, US-focused flows dominated global IG buying ($9.6B), but when focusing on EMEA[1]listed IG flows, the preference for Europe came through, with US-focused flows making up just 23% of the flows. This positive sentiment on global credit didn’t extend down the capital stack to high yield (HY), with global flows falling to $1.5B in January,but again highlighted an increased propensity among EMEA investors to add risk, given that the entirety of HY flows in January went into EMEA-listed ETPs. Emerging market debt (EMD) ETPs recorded $10.5B of outflows in January, driven by APAC[1]listed outflows (-$14.7B). In contrast, EMEA[1]listed ($2.2B) and US-listed ($1.6B) flows persisted. The EMEA-listed buying marked the highest monthly inflows since January 2021.
EMEA Snapshot
- Flows into EMEA-listed ETPs saw an uplift to $55.6B from $35.8B in December. These were driven by equities, which attracted $43.4B, up from $26.4B the previous month. Fixed income flows also saw an uptick to $13.2B, from $7.0B in December. Commodities saw outflows of $1.2B, contrasting with net inflows in December ($2.1B).
- EMEA investors continued to show a preference for diversifying their equity allocation alongside adding to US equities. EMEA-listed European and EM equity flows registered at $9.7B and $8.7B, respectively, both outpacing EMEA-listed US allocations ($5.4B).
- EMEA-listed fixed income flows were also influenced by investors building income in portfolios. IG ETPs gained $2.6B, HY saw $1.5B and EMD saw $2.2B of inflows – the largest monthly allocation since January 2021.
