U.S. Stocks Are ETFs' 'Vito the Pug': State Street

U.S. equities' 4% gain outpaced the rest of the globe last month and compelled investors to pour a record $122 billon into U.S. stock ETFs, earning them a comparison to a newly famous pooch. 

“US equities are the Vito the Pug of this year’s stocks grouping,” State Street Head of Americas ETF Research Matthew Bartolini wrote in a November review, referencing the overall winner of the American Kennel Club’s National Dog Show. “There are a lot of breeds... only one can be named ‘Best in Show’.” 

U.S. equities have gained 26% this year through November, the report said, crushing the 5% gain for the year in non-U.S. stocks, which were hit with a 1% loss last month after President-elect Donald Trump proposed a range of tariffs on goods imported from China, Mexico and Canada.

U.S. stocks are gaining as corporations report stronger earnings, widening margins, improved balance sheets and other reasons, according to the survey, which cited Bartolini’s earlier research. Stronger earnings are projected to continue over the next four quarters, the note stated. 

Trillion Dollar 2024 for ETFs

Exchange-traded funds are on pace to pull in a record $1.2 trillion this year as investors boost bets on U.S. stocks. That would top the previous $909 billion record set in 2021. Mutual funds’ outflows of $270 billion so far this year are also helping ETFs move toward the $1 trillion mark in new money, Bartolini noted. 

Half of the November equity inflows—$60 billion—have gone into passive, low-cost funds stock such as State Street’s $624.2 billion SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), the world’s biggest ETF. Active equity ETFs pulled in $20 billion; active fixed income ETFs brought in $14 billion. 

Bond funds brought in $29 billion in November, bringing their annual haul to a record $279 billion.