VOO, IBIT Lead Most Popular ETFs of 2024
These are the ETFs investors have been piling into this year.
2024 is shaping up to be a record year for ETF inflows—and with aggregate inflows topping the $1 trillion mark for the first time, individual funds are also breaking records.
Take the most popular U.S.-listed exchange-traded fund of 2024, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): its $123 billion of inflows are the largest ever for any individual ETF in a calendar year.
To put that in context, VOO had less than that in total assets under management as recently as April 2020.
Now it has almost $600 billion in AUM, making it the second-largest ETF behind the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) with $647 billion.
Low-Cost S&P 500 Index ETFs
This year, many investors have been content to ride the market rally with cheap, low-cost index funds like VOO. Why get fancy when VOO and other S&P 500 ETFs are up nearly 29% this year (on top of a 26% gain last year)?
In addition to VOO, other S&P 500 funds like the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and the SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPLG) are among this year’s most popular ETFs, with inflows of $36 billion and $20 billion, respectively, in the year-to-date period through Dec. 17.
A lot of money has also gone into broader stock market index funds, like the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF (VTI), which has inflows of $31 billion; as well as broad market funds that slice the market in different ways, like the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP), with inflows of $16 billion, and the Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF (VUG), with inflows of $18 billion.
The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) has also been a hit, with inflows of $27 billion; as has its cheaper iteration, the Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM), with inflows of $13 billion.
The Nasdaq-100 is outperforming the S&P 500 slightly this year, 32% versus 29% (last year it gained a whopping 55%, more than double the return for the S&P 500).
One of the lesser-known ETFs among this year’s most popular is the iShares US Equity Factor Rotation Active ETF (DYNF).
The fund, which has inflows of $12 billion this year, holds a basket of large and midcap stocks based on factors (quality, value, small size, low volatility and momentum). The fund’s managers decide which investment style to emphasize based on “forward-looking insights.”
A Rocky Year For Bonds
While stock ETFs dominate this year’s list of most popular ETFs, a few bond funds managed to make an appearance.
The iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG), the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND), and the iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV), each had inflows of more than $11 billion.
Bonds have had a rocky year. AGG was up as much as 4% in January but gave up all of those gains, and then some, in October, falling to a year-to-date loss of 3.3% before rebounding in November and December.
The ETF was last trading with a nearly 6% annuall gain.
IBIT Leads Wildly Popular Crypto ETFs
No piece on the most popular ETFs of the year would be complete without a mention of crypto ETFs.
After getting approval for trade in the U.S. in January, demand for spot bitcoin ETFs has been astronomical.
The iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) is the second-most-popular ETF of the year, with inflows of $36 billion, while the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) is the 13th-most-popular fund, with inflows of $13 billion.
Clearly, investors have been wholeheartedly embracing ETFs as an easy way to get exposure to bitcoin. Assets under management in spot bitcoin ETFs are now solidly above $100 billion.
For a full list of this year’s most popular ETFs, see the table below captured from etf.com’s Pulse tool:
