State Street (NYSE: STT) pulled in $40 billion as its ETF business stood at $329 billion at year-end, according to Morningstar.
Vanguard and iShares have been major players in the so-called fee war in the ETF industry as providers cut expense ratios in an effort to attract investors to diversified, core products.
However, the firms have downplayed their rivalry.
“Vanguard does not view this as a cash flow horse race,” Vanguard spokesman John Woerth told Ignites.
“Vanguard is a tremendous firm [and]great competitor,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said during the firm’s recent quarterly earnings call. “We have never done anything as something that we are a fight between BlackRock and Vanguard. That’s a topical myth by the media. We are just trying to execute our strategy and provide what we think are great outcomes.”