A Record ETF Year Takes Shape as Inflows Near $1.5 Trillion
Investors added a whopping $91.9 billion to US-listed ETFs during the week ending Friday, Sept. 18. Year-to-date inflows now stand at around $1.47 trillion, just shy of the $1.49 trillion that flowed into ETFs during all of 2025, an annual record. At the current pace, $2 trillion for the full year looks achievable.
US equity ETFs drove the week with $61.2 billion in inflows, reversing a couple of slow weeks for the category. US fixed income followed with $10.3 billion, international equity with $9.5 billion, international fixed income with $3.6 billion, alternatives with $3.3 billion, and commodity ETFs with $2.6 billion.
The buying came in a notable week for markets. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday, its first hike since 2023, lifting the target range to 3.75% to 4.00% as Chairman Kevin Warsh pointed to persistent inflation driven by the oil spike from the Iran war. The S&P 500 was largely flat on the week, as were bonds, but the 10-year Treasury yield hovered right near 5%, and briefly touched 5.04% on Tuesday, its highest level since 2007, before settling back.
Much of the week's flow data was mechanical rather than a read on demand. Quarterly rebalancing and trades meant to avoid distributions and manage taxes distorted the individual-fund numbers. The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) took in $16.5 billion after sizable outflows in recent weeks, and the Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF (COWZ) drew $3.5 billion that will likely reverse next week. The same is true of the Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF (SPMO) . That makes it hard to separate the mechanical flows from organic demand, though it tends to even out over the course of the year.
On the outflows side, the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) , the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) , and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) fell out of favor and saw sizable redemptions.
For a full list of last week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below.
Disclaimer: All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the article is published. Data is believed to be accurate; however, transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges.
