2024 ETF Inflows Reach New Record High

It took three years, but annual ETF inflows are back at record levels. On Tuesday, year-to-date inflows for U.S.-listed ETFs topped $902 billion—and then on Wednesday, they breached $909 billion. 

That means that, with a month-and-a-half left in the year, 2024 inflows are tracking to end up comfortably ahead of the previous annual record of $900 billion set in 2021.

Of course, it’s still possible that ETFs could register outflows from now through December, putting inflows below $900 billion at the end of the year—but it seems very unlikely.

Inflows have been robust all year long, and recent enthusiasm in the stock market following the U.S. presidential election suggests that December will be a strong month for inflows.

ETF Inflows Could Top $1T in 2024

In fact, if trends persist, an annual inflows record of more than $1 trillion seems to be in the cards, with an outside shot at $1.1 trillion.

In addition to being a new record, such a haul would be a sharp acceleration compared to the roughly $600 billion of inflows seen in both 2022 and 2023. 

A buoyant stock market, a plethora of new product launches, and the rise of active ETFs have all contributed to the surge of interest in exchange-traded funds this year. 

VOO Record

Another inflows milestone that etf.com has been watching is the $100 billion mark for the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO).

Earlier this year, the ETF broke the calendar-year inflows record for an individual ETF when it surpassed $47 billion in inflows. It’s since almost doubled that haul, bringing year-to-date inflows up to $93 billion, according to etf.com’s Fund Flows tool. 

The ETF has pulled in about $17 billion of new money over the past month, a pace that if maintained, means that VOO will easily crack $100 billion by year end.

In other words, 2024 could be the first trillion-dollar year for ETFs as a whole and the first $100 billion year for a single ETF.