VOO Becomes First ETF Ever to Cross $900 Billion in Assets

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) became the first exchange-traded fund in history to cross $900 billion in assets under management on Friday, adding another round-number milestone to a growing collection.

VOO entered the day with roughly $894 billion in assets, and with the S&P 500 jumping more than 1%, the fund comfortably cleared the threshold assuming no major outflows surface when the final numbers come in.

The fund has long operated as a steady vacuum cleaner for investor capital, with long-term buy-and-hold holders plowing money in day after day, month after month. 

That persistence shows up in the flow data. VOO has pulled in $36.9 billion so far this year, more than any other ETF, and is on pace to surpass $100 billion in annual inflows for a third consecutive year, a feat no other ETF has ever accomplished even once.

Performance has also helped boost the fund's AUM recently. After being down as much as 7.1% in March, the S&P 500 has clawed back into positive territory for the year and now sits up 4.5%.

VOO's ascent puts additional distance between it and the two other giants tracking the same index. The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) sits at around $780 billion, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) has around $720 billion.

One potential challenger worth watching is the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPYM), which earlier this year briefly led VOO in year-to-date inflows before slipping back to $32.4 billion. Its total AUM of roughly $135 billion remains far behind VOO, but at its current growth rate SPYM could become a juggernaut in its own right and potentially pull in $100 billion in a single year. 

It helps that SPYM is the cheapest S&P 500 ETF in the US and the only one that undercuts VOO, carrying an expense ratio of 0.02% versus VOO's 0.03%.

The next round number for VOO is a big one. At the current pace, the trillion-dollar mark is within reach, and the fund could get there before the end of the year.