Undeterred by early August volatility, investors poured a staggering $75 billion into U.S. exchange-traded funds in August, a fivefold increase compared to the same period last year.
According to Bloomberg data, the strong August inflows into ETFs have pushed the year-to-date total to over $600 billion, putting 2024 on track to potentially challenge the all-time record of $911 billion in inflows, set in 2021 — a year before the Federal Reserve initiated its rate hike cycle.
Athanasios Psarofagis, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, highlighted that investors took advantage of the early August market dip to increase their equity ETF holdings. Additionally, there was a notable surge in demand for bond-related ETFs and small-cap ETFs as investors anticipate the start of the Federal Reserve's rate cuts.
ETF Market Nears $10 Trillion In Total Value
Bloomberg data reveals the total value of ETFs is approaching the $10-trillion mark, representing nearly one-third of the total value of all investment funds in circulation. Passive ETFs dominate this space with $8.7 trillion in assets, while actively managed ETFs have grown by 30% this year to $783 billion.
Both fixed-income and equity ETFs have seen strong inflows, with fixed-income products attracting $187 billion and equity ETFs $367 billion so far in 2024.
Todd Sohn, an ETF strategist at Strategas, said bond ETFs have particularly benefited from an array of new offerings, including actively managed funds. Bond ETFs have attracted $100 billion over the last three months, surpassing the inflows seen during the early pandemic-recovery period in 2020.
Bitcoin-based ETFs have also gained traction, with net inflows exceeding $17 billion so far this year. Leveraged and inverse funds based on single companies have accumulated more than $9 billion in assets.
Top 5 ETFs By Inflows In August 2024
The following U.S.-listed ETFs saw the largest inflows of capital in August 2024:
| Fund | Fund flows in August 2024 |
|---|---|
| Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO | $5.964 bn |
| Vanguard Information Tech ETF VGT | $3.906 bn |
| iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT | $3.038 bn |
| iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV | $2.49 bn |
| Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF VTI | $2.358 bn |
Year-To-Date ETF Inflow Leaders
Year-to-date, the top five ETFs by inflows are:
| Fund | YTD fund flows |
|---|---|
| Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | $60.648 bn |
| iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | $43.532 bn |
| Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | $21.098 bn |
| Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 QQQ | $19.329 bn |
| iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF AGG | $14.152 bn |
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© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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