Investors are directing money into U.S.-based exchange-traded funds at a rapid clip, pushing inflows so far this year across the $1 trillion line, State Street Investment Management said on Tuesday.
That puts U.S. ETF inflows on pace to set a new annual record of as much as $1.4 trillion by the end of 2025, State Street said, with virtually every category benefitting from the torrent of new cash as investors continue to yank money out of traditional mutual funds in favor of lower-cost and more liquid ETFs.
“Any market correction might slow the pace but it wouldn’t halt the trend,” said Matthew Bartolini, global head of research strategists at State Street.
Last year, ETF flows reached the $1 trillion mark on December 11, State Street said, marking the first year they hit that threshold. This year, the breakneck pace has accelerated, with investors steering money into everything from low-cost, plain-vanilla ETFs tied to the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to cryptocurrencies and gold, Bartolini said.
Overall, assets in the U.S. ETF industry stood at $12.7 trillion at the end of September after 41 straight months of net inflows, according to data released on Tuesday from industry analysis firm ETFGI. Year-to-date, the pace of asset growth stands at nearly 23 per cent, ETFGI said.
Crossing the $1 trillion mark in flows “underscores the need for accelerating innovation, expanding market access and scaling education,” said Elise Terry, head of U.S. iShares at BlackRock, the single-largest global ETF issuer.
Michael Venuto, chief investment officer of Tidal Financial Group, a provider of ETFs, said the outflow of assets from mutual funds will continue to propel ETF inflows higher. Mutual fund outflows totaled $481 billion in the first nine months of 2025, according to data from Morningstar.
“What’s happening is impressive because it’s continuing at a time when there’s growing uncertainty in the markets,” Venuto said. “But we’re having discussions daily” with asset managers hoping to launch new ETFs or convert existing mutual funds into ETFs, he said.
