Sumo wrestlers, offensive lineman and hairstyles in the 1980s–just a few areas where bigger is better. In the world of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), sheer size can come in the form of market capitalization.
These sizeable funds can be useful for data consumers when it comes to determining where a specific market is moving or what the trends are within a certain sector, index, asset class, or other specific area of the capital markets. Net inflows into ETFs year-to-date stand at just over $300 billion, and that is expected to increase as the size of the market itself continues its expansion since the Great Recession.
With total ETF assets currently standing at over the $3 trillion mark, here are 10 of the biggest according to market capitalization, as of Dec. 20, 2018.
1. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY) — $241.61 Billion
SPY seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P 500® Index. The Trust seeks to achieve its investment objective by holding a portfolio of the common stocks that are included in the index, with the weight of each stock in the Portfolio substantially corresponding to the weight of such stock in the index.
2. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV) — $144.49 Billion
IVV seeks to track the investment results of the S&P 500, which measures the performance of the large-capitalization sector of the U.S. equity market. The fund generally invests at least 90 percent of its assets in securities of the underlying index and in depositary receipts representing securities of the underlying index. It may invest the remainder of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, as well as in securities not included in the underlying index, but which the advisor believes will help the fund track the underlying index.
3. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEArca: VTI) — $93.76 Billion
VTI seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of the overall stock market. The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the CRSP US Total Market Index, which represents approximately 100 percent of the investable U.S. stock market and includes large-, mid-, small-, and micro-cap stocks regularly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. It invests by sampling the index, meaning that it holds a broadly diversified collection of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full index in terms of key characteristics.
4. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: VOO) — $93.36 Billion
VOO seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of large-capitalization stocks. The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, a widely recognized benchmark of U.S. stock market performance that is dominated by the stocks of large U.S. companies. The advisor attempts to replicate the target index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index.
5. Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (NYSEArca: VEA) — $65.18 Billion
VEA seeks to track the performance of the FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index. The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index, a market-capitalization-weighted index that is made up of approximately 3,790 common stocks of large-, mid-, and small-cap companies located in Canada and the major markets of Europe and the Pacific region. The adviser attempts to replicate the target index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index.
6. iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (NYSEArca: EFA) — $61.66 Billion
EFA seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI EAFE Index composed of large- and mid-capitalization developed market equities, excluding the U.S. and Canada. The fund generally invests at least 90 percent of its assets in securities of the underlying index and in depositary receipts representing securities of the underlying index. The index measures the equity market performance of developed markets outside of the U.S. and Canada. The underlying index may include large- or mid-capitalization companies.
7. Invesco QQQ Trust (NasdaqGM: QQQ) — $60.74 Billion
QQQ seeks investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the index. To maintain the correspondence between the composition and weights of the securities in the trust and the stocks in the NASDAQ-100 Index®, the adviser adjusts the securities from time to time to conform to periodic changes in the identity and/or relative weights of index securities. The composition and weighting of the securities portion of a portfolio deposit are also adjusted to conform to changes in the index.
8. iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSEArca: AGG) — $56.15 Billion
AGG seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The index measures the performance of the total U.S. investment-grade bond market. The fund generally invests at least 90 percent of its net assets in component securities of its underlying index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of the component securities of its underlying index.
9. Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: VWO) — $54.83 Billion
VWO seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of stocks issued by companies located in emerging market countries. The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index, a market-capitalization-weighted index that is made up of approximately 4,032 common stocks of large-, mid-, and small-cap companies located in emerging markets around the world.
10. iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (BATS: IEFA) — $52.03 Billion
IEFA seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI EAFE IMI Index composed of large-, mid- and small-capitalization developed market equities, excluding the U.S. and Canada. The fund generally will invest at least 90 percent of its assets in the component securities of the underlying index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the component securities of the underlying index. The index is designed to measure large-, mid- and small-capitalization equity market performance and includes stocks from Europe, Australasia and the Far East.
For more market trends, visit ETF Trends.