Fastest Growing ETFs of the Year

Here at etf.com, we talk a lot about asset flows into and out of ETFs. Each day, each week and each month, we put together lists of the exchange-traded funds that garner the largest inflows and the largest outflows of assets—an indication of where investors are putting their money to work.  

Most of the time, the same batch of ETFs finds itself on these lists. These funds are usually super liquid, extraordinarily cheap and have billions of dollars in assets. For example, the $337 billion Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and the $322 billion Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF (VTI) are among the ETFs that have had the largest inflows so far this year.    
   
No matter how you slice it, their respective year-to-date inflows of $24 billion and $12 billion are sizable. That said, VOO and IVV aren’t necessarily the ETFs growing the fastest.  

On an absolute basis they are, but not on a percentage basis. Year-to-date inflows for the two ETFs represent an increase of 9% and 5%, respectively, over their total assets at the start of the year. Those are solid gains for such large ETFs, but nowhere close to the top of the heap.  

On a percentage basis, there are myriad ETFs that have grown much faster in 2023—ETFs that almost never make our flows lists because they are starting from a much smaller asset base. In this article, we’ll take a look at these fast-growing funds, which, in many cases, are flying under the radar of the ETF investing public at large.  

Fastest Growing New ETFs of 2023  

Admittedly, it’s much easier for a small fund to register a big percentage increase in its assets. A fund with only $1 million in assets under management simply has to grow to $2 million for its assets to double. Is that noteworthy? Not really.  

How about a $1 million fund growing to $50 million? Now that could be noteworthy for some; others might not pay attention until a fund grows even larger, into the hundred-million or even the billion-dollar range.  

That’s why we’ve put together two lists: one that showcases the fastest-growing ETFs of the year no matter their starting level of assets, and another that includes ETFs that had $100 million or more in assets at the start of 2023.  

Fastest Growing ETFs of 2023 (Starting AUM >$0)

Note: Only includes ETFs that launched prior to the start of 2023. Data measures the year-to-date period through July 18 . 

Strong Growth From a Small Asset Base 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the first list includes smaller ETFs that grew their assets from a tiny asset base. That includes the Yieldmax Tsla Option Income ETF (TSLY), which grew its AUM from less than $1 million to $276 million; the GraniteShares 1.5x Long NVDA Daily ETF (NVDL), which grew from $1 million to $171 million; and the Wisdomtree Artificial Intelligence And Innovation Fund (WTAI), which grew from $1 million to $145 million.  

Most of the other funds on the all-encompassing list also started with less than $10 million in AUM at the start of the year. However, two notable funds that started with larger bases of assets are the Schwab 5-10 Year Corporate Bond ETF (SCHI) and the First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETF (FTXL).  

SCHI’s AUM nearly grew by 15 times, from $328 million to $5 billion, while FTXL’s assets exploded from $80 million to $1.2 billion.  

Strong Growth From a Large Asset Base 

Other than SCHI and FTXL, the ETFs on the table above began the year with only a few million dollars in assets.  

Next up are the ETFs that began the year with a larger asset base—$100 million or more.   
  
Naturally, the growth of assets for these funds is smaller on a percentage basis, but still extremely impressive.  

The Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 1.5X Shares (TSLL), the first single-stock ETF to cross $1 billion in AUM, is on the list.  

The BondBloxx Six Month Target Duration US Treasury ETF (XHLF), a short-term Treasury fund that targets duration rather than maturity, also made the cut, growing from $100 million to $843 million. 

Other interesting ETFs on the list include the US Treasury 3 Month Bill ETF (TBIL)—a single-bond ETF; the MicroSectors FANG+ Index 3X Leveraged ETNs (FNGU)—a leveraged ETF targeting FANG-like stocks; the BNY Mellon US Large Cap Core Equity ETF (BKLC)—the first “true” zero-fee ETF; and the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ)—an active fund with a low volatility, covered call strategy. 

For a full list of this year’s fastest-growing ETFs, see the tables above and below.  

Fastest Growing ETFs of 2023 (Starting AUM >$100M) 

Note: Only includes ETFs that launched prior to the start of 2023. Data measures the year-to-date period through July 18.