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Global ETF assets declined slightly to $14.41 trillion in October from a record $14.46 trillion in September, even as the industry continued to attract a surge in inflows, according to a new report from ETFGI.
Market declines drove the asset drop, as the S&P 500 index fell about 1% in October, while developed markets excluding the U.S dropped 5.2% and emerging markets decreased 3.7%, ETFGI managing partner Deborah Fuhr told etf.com.
The ETF industry has now recorded 65 consecutive months of net inflows as “all types of investors, whether it's retail, financial advisors or institutional investors, have really found preferences for ETFs to fulfill many different needs,” Fuhr noted.
According to the ETFGI report, the industry gathered $211.4 billion in net inflows during October, bringing year-to-date inflows to $1.45 trillion, easily surpassing the previous full-year record of $1.04 trillion set in 2021.
Growth in the assets invested in the Global ETFs industry at the end of October
Source: ETFGI
Risk-On Sentiment Drives Flows
Equity ETFs led the charge with $110.6 billion in October inflows, pushing their year-to-date total to $806.7 billion—more than double the $323.6 billion gathered during the same period in 2023, the report revealed.
“People are, in general, in a risk-on environment, seeing the markets having been going up so much,” Fuhr said, noting the S&P 500’s 21% year-to-date gain, while developed markets ex-U.S. rose 6.6% and emerging markets climbed nearly 15%.
Fixed income ETFs, meanwhile, attracted $35.4 billion in October inflows, while actively managed ETFs drew $47.7 billion, the data showed. Active ETFs have now accumulated $287.9 billion in year-to-date inflows, compared to $133 billion during the same period last year.
Commodity ETFs gathered $6.8 billion in October inflows, bringing their year-to-date total to $7.9 billion —a shift from $13.5 billion in outflows during the same period last year, according to the data.
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) led individual funds with $14.4 billion in October inflows, followed by the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) with $10.5 billion, according to ETFGI.
The global ETF industry now spans 12,994 products from 791 providers listed on 81 exchanges in 63 countries, the report noted. This represents modest growth from September, when there were 12,843 products from 781 providers.