##  [# Here's What the 10 Largest US ETFs Have in Common](/sections/advisor-center/heres-what-10-largest-us-etfs-have-common) 

 

# Here's What the 10 Largest US ETFs Have in Common

 

 

\- It’s no coincidence that the biggest ETFs have gathered so much market share.  
\- Investing is all about 'minimizing expenses and emotions; maximizing diversification and discipline.'



 

 

 

 

 [![AllanRoth200x200](/sites/default/files/styles/author_image_icon/public/2023-06/AllanRoth200x200.png?itok=zgZMTBaX)](/contributors/allan-roth) 

[By Allan Roth](/contributors/allan-roth)

 Jul 16, 2025

 Edited by: David Tony

 

 

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The 4,494 ETFs traded in the United States have accumulated total assets under management of $10.8 trillion. The simple average expense ratio was 0.92% at the end of 2024, according to Morningstar.

But the [10 ETFs](https://www.etf.com/etfanalytics/etf-screener) with the largest assets under management hold about a third of those total assets. That is to say, 0.2% of the ETFs control 33% of all U.S.-based ETF assets.

### Largest U.S. ETFs as of July 8, 2025

**Ticker****Fund Name****One-Year Total Return****Expense Ratio****AUM**[**VOO**](/VOO)Vanguard S&amp;P 500 ETF13.20%0.03%$688.6B[**SPY**](/SPY)SPDR S&amp;P 500 ETF Trust13.10%0.09%$637.6B[**IVV**](/IVV)iShares Core S7P 500 ETF13.20%0.03%$627.2B[**VTI**](/VTI)Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF13.60%0.03%$502.2B[**QQQ**](/QQQ)Invesco QQQ Trust Series I11.70%0.20%$352.7B[**VUG**](/VUG)Vanguard Growth ETF13.70%0.04%$175.9B[**VEA**](/VEA)Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF16.70%0.03%$162.6B[**IEFA**](/IEFA)iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF16.50%0.07%$141.3B[**VTV**](/VTV)Vanguard Value ETF13.40%0.04%$140B[**BND**](/BND)Vaguard Total Bond Market ETF4.40%0.03%$130.6B*Source: etf.com &amp; FactSet Data*

It’s no coincidence that these ETFs gathered so much of the ETF market share. After all, investors are smart.

## Shared Characteristics

Here are some things these ETFs have in common and why you should consider using these features in selecting ETFs for your portfolio.

### Low Costs

The weighted average expense ratio for these funds is 0.06% annually. That’s barely a tenth of the 0.92% average. Even the most expensive, the [**Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ)**](/QQQ), at 0.2% annually, is barely a fifth of the average ETF. Costs matter, and investors understand this.

### Passive Management

All 10 follow passive indexes. Active investing has higher fees, and the data are compelling that active managers, in the long run, underperform. Sure, some beat the market for years, but fewer than random luck would predict. Cathie Wood’s [**ARK Innovation Fund (ARKK)**](/ARKK) is a great example of a fund with spectacular performance that then crashed (though it’s done quite well over the past year).

### Cap-Weighted

All of these funds are weighted by market capitalization. Smart Beta indexes and funds were the rage many years ago as factor investing outperformed. Then, money poured in, and performance generally lagged badly. Market-cap weighting requires far fewer trades. Admittedly, some of these funds focus on growth and value, which are factors. But within these factors, they are cap-weighted.

### High Diversification

These funds hold at least 100 positions, and some own thousands. Diversification is the one free lunch in investing. Concentrated or even single-stock ETFs defeat the purpose of ETFs, in my opinion.

### Never Made Top-10 ETF Quarterly Performers

Because these ETFs are diversified, I don’t believe any has made the list of the top performers. That’s a really good thing, as they also don’t make the list of the worst performers.

 
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## My View

Investing in eight words is simply “minimizing expenses and emotions; maximizing diversification and discipline.” The core ETFs I recommend are total U.S. and international stock ETFs and total bond ETFs.

They accomplish the goal of minimizing expenses and maximizing diversification. It’s up to the investor to minimize emotions and maximize discipline.



 

 

 [ Allan Roth ](/contributors/allan-roth) 

 

 

  Allan Roth is founder of Wealth Logic, an hourly based financial planning and investment advisory firm. He also benchmarks portfolio performance for…   [View Bio](/contributors/allan-roth)

 



 

 


 Related Topics  [Advisor Center](http://www.etf.com/topics/advisor-center-0) 

 [Vanguard](http://www.etf.com/topics/vanguard) 

 [SPDR](http://www.etf.com/topics/spdr) 

 [iShares](http://www.etf.com/topics/ishares) 

 [Invesco](http://www.etf.com/topics/invesco)