2025 ETF Flows Highlights
- International equity exchange-traded funds set a new inflow record, more than doubling 2024’s total as strong returns and a weaker US dollar fueled demand.
- Vanguard and iShares dominated flows once again, capturing 54% of all US ETF net flows.
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO set an all-time ETF inflow record by drawing in $143 billion, roughly 10% of every new dollar invested in US ETFs in 2025.
- Rising gold prices drove strong demand, leading a turnaround for commodity ETFs after a tepid 2024.
- Active ETFs had their best year on record, attracting about a third of total ETF inflows.
ETFs brought in $1.46 trillion in 2025, easily breaking the flows record set in 2024 by $350 billion. Strong marketwide performance went hand in hand with higher investor demand for ETFs.
In 2025, nearly all our analyst-rated ETFs in the table below outperformed their average historical returns over the past 10 years through 2025. Analyst-rated international ETFs, in particular, crushed their average returns. Mid- and small-cap ETFs underperformed their historical averages, since large technology stocks drove much of the US stock market’s performance in 2025.
Fat Cats and Starving Dogs
The fat cats of the ETF universe got bigger. Vanguard and iShares ETFs captured 54% of all new investment in US ETFs and have collected over half of total net flows for 16 of the past 17 years. The next 18 largest ETF shops garnered 33% of 2025 flows, while the rest fought over the remaining 13%.
More than a hundred firms entered the ETF market for the first time in 2025, despite its top heaviness. Horizon Investments, a Charlotte-based RIA, captured the most inflows of any new entrant with its suite of Horizon Funds ETFs pulling in over a billion in new capital. However, new ETF providers collectively brought in less than 1% of new investment into ETFs.
A Handful of ETFs Took a Fifth of ETF Flows in 2025
A single ETF, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO, accounted for a third of Vanguard’s $425 billion haul in 2025. VOO’s $143 billion of inflows set the annual record for ETF inflows. About 10 cents of every dollar invested in US ETFs went to VOO.
The next-highest inflow went to iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV, which tracks the same index as VOO and brought in $78 billion in fresh capital in 2025. IShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF SGOV and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF VTI rounded out the top four, each garnering about $39 billion in new capital. Together, these top four ETFs represented about 20% of all net flows in 2025.
Investors’ Favorite ETF Categories of 2025
International stock ETFs had a terrific year. Impressive performance, driven by skyrocketing international stocks and a weak US dollar, spurred massive inflows. The international equity Morningstar Category collected more new capital in 2025 than in any year prior, and more than double 2024’s haul.
Most Morningstar broad category groups saw an uptick in interest compared with 2024, except the US equity, alternative, and miscellaneous categories. US equity and alternative (mainly digital asset ETFs) groups saw investor interest decline by about 1% in 2025, following a strong year of flows in 2024 for both.
Miscellaneous-category ETF flows dropped precipitously from 2024 to 2025, despite the number of ETFs in the category more than doubling thanks to the swell of leveraged and inverse single-stock ETFs. Over $12 billion left leveraged equity ETFs, the most of any Morningstar category. Instead, investors piled money into inverse equity ETFs to the tune of $8 billion.
Commodity ETF flows spiked to $55 billion in 2025, or 55 times more than in 2024. Nearly all of that new capital flowed into gold and silver funds. Inflows coincided with strong performance: SPDR Gold Shares GLD—which holds physical gold—returned an incredible 64% in 2025. That’s fantastic for investors who held gold in 2025, but a huge price increase could mean more downside risk going forward.
Active ETFs Gain Ground
The number of active ETFs surpassed passive ETFs in June 2025, and active ETFs have captured an increasing percentage of flows. They had their best year of inflows in 2025, pulling in $460 billion in new capital, or about one-third of all new ETF investment. That’s almost $200 billion more than 2024, its previous record year.
J.P. Morgan captured the most inflows of any provider into active ETFs, garnering $60 billion in new capital. JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF JEPQ, which sells call options to generate income, brought in $10 billion alone.
The top five US active ETF players—Dimensional, J.P. Morgan, Capital Group, First Trust, and American Century—account for about half the active ETF market, making it less concentrated than the overall ETF market. ETFs as a share class should push active ETFs’ market share even higher since they should eventually give investors the ability to convert their mutual fund shares into ETFs.
