Sure, mutual funds might hold most of the investment assets, but exchange traded funds (ETFs) are surpassing them in growth. Mutual funds shouldn’t wave the white flag yet, though: Sue Asci for Investment News reports that the industry is hardly in jeopardy.

As of Oct. 31, mutual fund assets had grown to $8.2 trillion. That’s more than double the $3.6 trillion in assets they held in 2002. Net inflows through Oct. 31 were $233.2 billion. Those numbers are from the Financial Research Corp. of Boston.

While that sounds great, check this out: ETF assets have grown nearly fivefold in that same period, to about $590 billion. Year-to-date inflows are $94 billion, which is a 73.8% increase from Oct. 31, 2006.

Analysts say that it’s easier for ETFs to have so much growth, because they’re coming off a smaller base. Mutual funds are so big and have been around for so long that maintaining that kind of growth would be difficult.