AUM, flows and more
- U.S. ETF assets increased by 3.0% in October 2025, reaching a total of $13.1 trillion.
- ETFs started the fourth quarter strong, totaling over $171 billion in October, with about 61% directed toward equities and 29% toward fixed income. For the year, ETF flows totaled about $1.1 trillion.
Active spotlight
- Flows totaled about $47 billion in October 2025, with about 51% going into equities and about 37% into fixed income. Total assets ended the month at $1.43 trillion.
- About 35% of ETF flows in 2025 have gone into active strategies.
- 98 active ETFs were launched in October. Active ETFs represent 85% of total ETF launches in 2025.
From $50 billion to $13 trillion and beyond
I don’t usually write this piece in the first person, but sometimes a personal touch helps frame where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re headed. I’ve been involved with ETFs almost since their beginning. Back in 1999, I wrote a report for one of my former firms when the ETF industry was only $50 billion. It ran about 50 pages, with each ETF receiving a single page that went through various data points. What if I tried to write that same ETF report today? With the industry now at about $13 trillion across more than 4,500 ETFs, it wouldn’t be a report—it’d be an anthology. From my perspective, the ETF marketplace is nothing short of remarkable. Its participants took an older, traditional structure and modernized it, democratizing access and extending reach across virtually every asset class. What began as a passive investing revolution has evolved into an increasingly active one.
This year alone, roughly $1 trillion has flowed into ETFs, with 35% directed toward active strategies, even though only about 10–12% of total ETF assets are active. Nearly 85% of all ETFs that have launched this year are active.
What we’re witnessing is a profound transformation, not just in investor behavior but in structural acceptance. ETFs now span gold, crypto, uranium miners, derivative income products, and even areas once thought inaccessible, such as private credit and private equity. The common thread is accessibility—ETFs continue to make markets more open, efficient and inclusive. And if the current trajectory holds, we estimate global ETF assets could exceed $30 trillion within the next four years.
Guide to ETFs featured slide of the month (slide 29)
Gold shows its staying power
Gold has surged this year with investors seeking protection against inflation, geopolitical tensions and currency volatility. Central banks—especially in emerging markets—have been major buyers, reinforcing long-term demand. We’ve also seen significant flows into gold ETFs, which offer efficient exposure, though that momentum moderated recently as the dollar strengthened. Still, with lower real yields and lingering macro uncertainty, gold remains an attractive hedge and portfolio diversifier. As the U.S. dollar stabilizes, price gains may slow, but gold’s role as a store of value and a counterbalance to equity and bond risk continues to justify a strategic allocation.