ETF Inflows on Cusp of Annual Record

Exchange-traded fund inflows are on the cusp of breaking their annual record after investors piled into ETFs following Trump’s election victory.

Year-to-date inflows for U.S.-listed ETFs stood at $892 billion as of Monday, Nov. 11, just a tad short of the $900 billion mark reached in 2021. 

With over a month-and-a-half left in the year, the record is almost certain to fall—possibly as soon as this week. 

After that, attention will shift to the symbolic $1 trillion level, which suddenly looks achievable by year's end. 

Last December, inflows for U.S.-listed ETFs were well over $100 billion; this year, with investor sentiment surging in the wake of the election, it’s conceivable that Dec. 2024 inflows could be just as strong, or even stronger. 

ETF Inflows Could Soon Hit $1T Mark

Meanwhile, another milestone that could be reached by year's end is the $100 billion flows mark for an individual ETF.

Since the start of the year, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) has gathered $90 billion of new assets, the largest haul by far for a single ETF in a calendar year. Over the past month, inflows of VOO have totaled $13 billion, suggesting that the fund has a good shot to hit $100 billion of inflows by the end of 2024.

VOO’s inflows are significantly higher than the $56 billion that’s been invested in the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) since the start of the year.

New Global Record 

Speaking of records, while we tend to focus on the U.S. ETF industry here at etf.com, the ETF structure remains popular around the world. Data from BlackRock shows that worldwide ETF inflows hit an annual record at the end of October— $1.4 trillion versus the previous $1.33 trillion record from 2021. 

While the U.S. drove much of those inflows, strong demand for exchange-traded funds in Europe has also contributed.