The iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX: IOZ) has been rangebound today and currently trades less than 1% higher at $28.20 a share
This is around the same as the index the fund tracks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is also up less than 1% on the day so far, tracking 0.66% higher at the time of writing.
Big exit for one large player
Now reports have surfaced of what's been labelled as the "single largest trade" of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the asset class's history.
ASX trade data from August reveals that one institutional investor, a superannuation fund, sold down $830 million of its position in the ASX 200 ETF on 19 August, as reported by The Australian.
"It is understood the client held the ETF for several years before selling, with some suggestion the withdrawal proved the fund's positive performance," it wrote.
The trade has been the single largest on the ASX for an ETF and marks a large collection of cash for the super fund.
What this means for the super fund looking ahead, or where it intends to reallocate the capital, is unknown at this stage.
While there's been a number of macro-variables plaguing the benchmark index in the new financial year, price action since the trade [shown via the red dashed line] has headed lower, as seen below.
The move is in contrast to net fund flows into Australian investment funds for the past month, with nearly US$1.2 billion in net inflows to ETFs during that time.
Meanwhile, the iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF has lost around 9% in the past 12 months. As expected, it's in line with the benchmark index's near 8% drop over the same period.
