ETF industry breaks $1T inflow record

Investors are pouring money into a wide range of assets, putting the ETF industry in the driver’s seat in what could be another record year.
Perhaps the ETF industry’s theme song is Frank Sinatra’s “It’s Been a Very Good Year,” as the industry’s assets hit $1 trillion annually this month, faster than at any other time in history.
“I think, by and large, you look across different asset classes — stocks, bonds, commodities, gold, of course — it’s been a very good year for owning assets. Assets across the board have outperformed cash pretty much. So, it’s just been a positive return environment for assets. So, I think we’ve seen flows coming in because of the risk type of behavior, but also because of the positive performance on assets,” Matt Bartolini, global head. strategists at State Street investment Management told FOX Business.
State Street manages more than $5 trillion in assets with clients in more than 60 countries.
tape | protection | last | It changes | % changes |
---|---|---|---|---|
six | State Street Company | 114.19 | +3.19 |
+2.87% |
Last year, ETF inflows hit $1 trillion on December 11, 2024. Bartolini correctly predicted that the industry would cross the $1 trillion mark by October 15, and it reached that level a day earlier. The full-year total is expected to reach $1.35 trillion, supported in part by bonds.
He added: “Fixed income ETFs – every year they continue to gain more and more popularity. And now you have these funds breaking records with a full-year record just in the first nine months. That’s only because the use cases across fixed income ETFs have expanded beyond simple experimental building blocks to now include more active strategies with track records that can Define it. Bond ETFs accounted for $39 billion in inflows last month.
Inflows from gold ETFs are also on fire, and are on track to break annual records this year. Although the price of the yellow metal continues to break records, trading above $4,100 per ounce.
The SPDR Gold Trust ETF, the largest ETF backed by physical gold, has seen record inflows of $15.97 billion this year. The smaller SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust ETF generated $6.8 billion, according to the company.
tape | protection | last | It changes | % changes |
---|---|---|---|---|
GLD | SPDR GOLD Equity Fund – USD ACC | 378.09 | +8.97 |
+2.43% |
Jaldam | SPDR® GOLD MINISHARES® TRUST – USD ACC | 81.36 | +1.92 |
+2.42% |
The ETF’s board is dominated by smart funds
Bartolini et al explain the classic case of owning gold:
Bullish background for gold
- Inflation remains above the Fed’s preferred level of 2%.
- Global instability
- Low interest rates
- US debt, deficit
- Weakness of the US dollar
- Institutional instability at the Fed and Japan
- Continued buying of gold by central banks
There is also another bullish statistic for the precious metal even though the market may appear extended.
Latest ETF news

Spot gold continues to rise as traders and ETF investors view the yellow metal as a safe haven. (Istock)
“The gold tonnage is actually below the high water mark,” Bartolini said. “Therefore, the actual amount of tons of gold locked up is below that high water mark,” indicating further upside.
tape | protection | last | It changes | % changes |
---|---|---|---|---|
SLV | ISHARES SILVER TRUST – USD ACC | 46.94 | -0.34 |
-0.72% |
Sèvres | ABRDN PHYSICAL SILVER SHARES ETF – USD ACC | 49.70 | +2.19 |
+4.61% |
Gold prices rose by more than 56% this year, while silver jumped by more than 73% and is stable at the highest level since January 1980.
The Arberdeen Physical Silver Shares ETF hit a record high on Monday, while the iShares Silver Trust is hovering around a record high as well.
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2025-10-14 16:44:00