Midpoint 2025: ETF Growth Is Solid (so far) Amid Gyrations

Before you think, “What a year this has been,” remember that we’re only halfway through.

So far this year—five months into the second Trump administration—we've lived through tumult perhaps never seen in what is more or less peacetime: stocks tumbling into a bear market before climbing to new highs, the dollar dipping to multi-year lows and the mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies, so-called money that no one has ever really seen or dug out of the sofa.

Internationally, the United States’s main defense alliance, NATO, has been threatened, long-time trading partners suddenly became adversaries and bombs have been falling in Ukraine, Russia and, up until a few days ago, across the Middle East. 

Domestically, there’s been a reshaping of the centrist/liberal policies that have molded our recent history, with upended diversity, clean energy and immigration policies.

Yet, just as markets appeared to reflect the worst of times, they started to look up—at least in the exchange-traded fund industry, a machine that shows no sign of slowing.

Record ETF Flows

As of the end of June, investors have poured a record $556 billion into U.S. ETFs this year, according to Matt Bartolini, head of State Street’s SPDR Americas Research. That total was reached after $111 billion of June inflows and puts the U.S. industry on pace to reach an annual record of $1.2 trillion, he said.

Still, 2025 might get crazier, keeping investors on their toes amid the chaos (which itself often sparks the growth our portfolios love).

At present, investors live in a difficult mix of suspense and nervous optimism, Bartolini said. He noted it’s like watching an ugly round of golf filled with terrible shots that still manages to come in under par.  

Markets under President Donald Trump are experiencing a paradigm shift, with old alliances and processes upended. Investors must shape portfolios for “balance and resilience,” Bartolini said, because markets may still be dinged by new trade arrangements as well as deficits and lower growth thanks to the administration's budget and other government policies.

Dare to Be Dull

Allan Roth, an etf.com columnist and founder of financial planning firm Wealth Logic—whose website is titled “Dare to Be Dull,” reflecting his investing philosophy—also said rebalancing is key right now.  

“Those that did rebalance in early 2025 and again in April and yet again in June/July,” did well, he said. “Volatile markets make rebalancing even more valuable. Simple but not easy.”