Vanguard Focused on Future of Active Fixed Income
- VOO is crowned world’s largest ETF, wins 2025 ETF of the Year.
- Vanguard sees strong momentum in active fixed-income ETFs.
At the 2025 etf.com Awards, Vanguard won the ETF of the Year title with the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO). The fund’s ultra-low expense ratio and market-cap weighting helped investors benefit most from the strongest-performing large-cap stocks driving the S&P 500’s gains last year. VOO’s popularity with investors in 2024 enabled the fund to become the largest ETF in the world in 2025.
Vanguard was also spotlighted for two standout fixed-income products, including the Vanguard Core Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VCRM), which was nominated for Best New U.S. Fixed Income ETF. Steve McFee, senior portfolio manager at Vanguard, highlighted the fund’s early success, noting it has already attracted $170 million in assets within its first five months—an impressive feat in a space where the median AUM for similar funds sits around $25 million. “We’ve seen strong retail demand and are beginning to attract institutional interest,” McFee said, emphasizing the firm’s deep experience in active muni management and its competitive 12-basis-point fee.
Vanguard’s other nominee, the Vanguard Core Bond ETF (VCRB), was up for Best New Active ETF, having pulled in $1.5 billion in its first 16 months. McFee underscored Vanguard’s strategic focus on active fixed income, pointing to inefficiencies in markets like high yield and emerging market debt where active management can shine. While known for its indexing heritage, Vanguard is leaning more into active strategies—especially in fixed income—using ETFs as a tool to deliver broad access and improve liquidity. “The real innovation isn’t the wrapper. It’s the access and infrastructure we’re building behind it,” McFee said.
Congratulations to Vanguard on the well-deserved win and the multiple nominations for its innovative products.
2025 etf.com Awards Sponsors
Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Clear Street, and all our supporting sponsors: AdvizorPro, CRSP, Eagle Capital Management, Fundstrat Capital, Gregory FCA, Innovator, Invesco, MSCI, NEOS, S&P Global Market Intelligence, Vanguard and Vident.
For the full list of 2025 etf.com Awards winners, click here.
