So, the U.S. stock market had a rough March, with the S&P 500 dropping about 5%. Normally, you'd expect some panic selling, right? Well, something interesting happened instead. Two of the biggest ETFs tracking that very index—SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)—collectively saw about $22 billion walk out the door. But here's the twist: investors weren't running for the hills. They were just running to cheaper seats in the same stadium.
According to data from Etf.com, VOO lost $11.1 billion and SPY lost $10.8 billion last month. That's a headline-grabbing number. But if you look at where the money went, the story changes. It didn't leave the S&P 500; it just rotated within it. The big winner was the SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPYM), which sucked in close to $16 billion. Why? Well, SPYM charges an expense ratio of just 0.02%. That makes it arguably the cheapest ticket to ride the S&P 500 train.
Then there's iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV). It gained over $8 billion, even though its expense ratio of 0.03% is the same as VOO's. So, it's not just about the price tag. This suggests other factors are in the mix—maybe liquidity, or how institutions use it, or simply brand power. After all, BlackRock's iShares was the ETF brand that pulled in the most money overall last month, a cool $46.5 billion according to Etf.com.
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