U.S. equity ETFs were primarily responsible for the drop in month-to-month flows for the industry, generating $46.6 billion in November versus $51.2 billion last month.

The large broad-market indices continued to lead inflows among ETFs, with theVanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)adding $5.48 billion in new assets. TheVanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)and theiShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV)followed, with $4.0 billion and $3.8 billion in inflows, respectively.

But the emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant and ongoing inflation fears led to some more defensive ETFs rising toward the top of the inflows table.

TheiShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP)continued its run in the top 10, adding $1.7 billion, while theiShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF)gained just shy of $2.1 billion in new assets.

TheiShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (QUAL)rode a stunning $3.4 billion inflow on the final day of the month to finish the month with $3.5 billion in new assets overall, reversing what was a $1.4 billion outflow year-to-date. However, it’s not yet clear if the infusion of assets is a heartbeat trade, a result of a rebalance or organic movement from investors.$Vanguard S&P 500 ETF(VOO)$ $Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares(VTI)$ $iShares Core S&P 500 ETF(IVV)$ $iShares TIPS Bond ETF(TIP)$ $iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF(IEF)$ $iShares Edge MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF(QUAL)$