Vanguard Dominates 2010 Race For ETF Inflows

Vanguard, the third-largest U.S. ETF issuer by assets, garnered $40.5 billion in fresh investments to its ETFs last year, the fifth straight year the firm has seen its asset haul increase. BlackRock's BLK iShares business fell to second place in terms of new assets gained after raking in $30.2 billion. More importantly, it is the third straight year iShares has seen its new asset haul dwindle. The Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock ETF VWO was the most popular individual ETF in terms of new inflows last year, gaining $19.3 billion in fresh investments, according to the Financial Times. SPDR Gold Trust GLD, 2009's most popular ETF and the second-largest ETF in the world by assets, saw inflows decline from $13.8 billion to $5.8 billion last year, the FT reported. While many of Vanguard's ETFs mimic funds that have been on the market longer, the company is able to exploit an important distinction to gain favor among investors: Lower fees. Vanguard is consistently able to undercut rivals on ETF expense ratios and offers free trading of its ETFs to Vanguard clients and those strategies appear to be working in the firm's favor.