I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break with friends and family, and a chance to express gratitude. As a proud member of the ETF industry, I have a lot to be thankful for in 2025.
Record-Shattering Inflows & Industry Growth
2025 has been a year for the record books in the ETF industry. We’ve already broken records with $1.2 trillion (and counting) of net inflows for an individual ETF. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), fresh off winning an industry award in 2024, has pulled in $123 billion alone. Meanwhile, my firm, TMX VettaFi, has seen a more than 40% increase in assets tied to our indexes.
As the head of research and editorial, I have a front-row seat as advisors and investors learn to navigate and differentiate the more than 4,000 ETFs currently available. By year-end, our editorial team will have written and published several thousand articles on ETFs, and our research team will have hosted nearly 200 educational virtual events for advisors. I’m proud of my colleagues’ efforts to help the community.
Product Development Isn’t Slowing Down
As demand for ETFs hits a new high, the ETF industry shows no signs of slowing down product development. Incumbents like JPMorgan and State Street Investment Management are expanding their lineups to cover additional investment styles.
Meanwhile, more firms have entered the ETF market in 2025 including Pictet Asset Management and Raymond James. These firms brought their active management expertise to support the growing appetite for active ETFs, evidenced by the recent asset milestones from firms like Capital Group. Still others will likely join in 2026 as the ETF share class of mutual funds becomes prevalent.
Furthermore, the industry is embracing innovation with products offering exposure to complex instruments like autocallable notes in an accessible ETF structure, such as the Calamos Autocallable Income ETF (CAIE). We’re also seeing new cryptocurrency products thanks to a more supportive regulatory environment.
Embracing Choice & Community
I am often asked if there are too many ETFs, and my answer is yes. However, rather than trying to identify which funds are not viable, I prefer to let the market decide. We have seen under-the-radar ETFs see spikes in their asset bases—a testament to the power of choice. The iShares Systematic Bond ETF (SYSB) for instance, saw its assets rise approximately ten-fold in one week in November. I’m just thankful advisors and their clients have more choices (and that I have more to educate about).
Annually, the ETF industry comes together at the Exchange conference. Nearly 500 advisors, media representatives, and people working across the ETF ecosystem have already signed up for the next iteration, taking place in March 2026. The registration is higher than this time last year. I’m grateful that TMX VettaFi brings the community together to celebrate the milestones, learn about new products, and connect in person. If you are not yet signed up, consider this your invitation to do so and take advantage of a new advisor reward program. Consider it a gift to yourself for the holidays.
For more news, information, and analysis, visit VettaFi | ETF Trends.
