SPY: The First ETF Hitting Half a Trillion in Assets

The S&P 500 rallied on Friday and is now less than 1% below its all-time high set two years ago. But assets in the world’s largest exchange-traded fund are already at records following a flurry of buying over the past week. 

Investors added $41.5 billion of new money to the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) since December 13—the day of the Fed’s dovish pivot. 

It was on that day that the U.S. central bank signaled that it could cut rates three times in 2024, which set off a furious rally in the stock market. 

SPY was a big beneficiary of the stampede into stocks. The fund took in $20.8 billion of fresh cash on Dec. 15 alone, the largest single-day inflow for any ETF ever.

SPY, Other S&P 500 ETFs Surge in Assets in 2023 

Year-to-date inflows for the SPY ETF now stand at $54 billion, which, if the year ended here, would be the largest annual haul for the fund in its 30-year history, surpassing 2021’s $38 billion. 

Those inflows have pushed SPY’s assets under management to record heights, even though the ETF’s underlying index has yet to make a record of its own. 

On Friday, SPY’s AUM touched $494 billion, putting it on track to become the first ETF with half a trillion dollars in assets.

That $494 billion is comfortably above the assets in the second and third largest ETFs, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), which have AUM of $388 billion and $369 billion, respectively.  

IVV and VOO have gathered $28 billion and $41 billion of new assets, respectively, this year. However, their inflows have been steadier, with investors putting money into the funds gradually over the course of the year.  

In contrast, SPY saw a surge of interest following the December Fed meeting, a reflection of its popularity among traders and shorter-term investors.