According to data from ETFGI, the global ETF sector has reached a new record in assets under management of $21.91 trillion. Net inflows in April totalled $219 billion, with $856 billion since the start of the year
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Article created by the editorial staff of ETFWorld.co.uk
Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner, Founder and Owner of ETFGI
Assets invested in the global ETF sector reached a new all-time high of $21.91 trillion at the end of April 2026, surpassing the previous peak of $21.24 trillion recorded in February 2026. Since the start of the year, growth has been 10.5% compared to the $19.84 trillion at the end of 2025. The figures are contained in the ETFGI monthly report for May 2026.
In April, the sector recorded net inflows of $218.97 billion, bringing the total since January to a record $856.38 billion, a level that significantly exceeds the previous records of $620.54 billion in 2025 and $467.69 billion in 2024. The sector has recorded 83 consecutive months of net inflows.
During the month, equity markets provided strong support. The S&P 500 rose by 10.49%, bringing the year-to-date gain to 5.70%. Developed markets, excluding the US, gained 9.44% in April (+9.63% in 2026), with South Korea (+38.29%) and Luxembourg (+14.27%) standing out. Emerging markets recorded a gain of 10.53% for the month and 7.39% since January, led by Taiwan (+26.59%) and Egypt (+21.84%). This was noted by Deborah Fuhr, managing partner, founder and owner of ETFGI.
Concentration of supply
At the end of April 2026, the global landscape comprised 16,605 ETFs, 32,401 listings and 1,004 providers, listed on 86 exchanges across 66 countries. Despite the breadth of the offering, the market remains highly concentrated: the top three providers hold 59.0% of assets.
- iShares (BlackRock) leads the way with $6.06 trillion and a 27.7% market share.
- Vanguard follows with $4.69 trillion and 21.4% of the market.
- State Street SPDR ETF has $2.16 trillion, accounting for 9.9%.
The dynamics of inflows
April’s figures show fierce competition. Vanguard, with 229 ETFs, raised $60.4 billion during the month and $209.1 billion year-to-date, narrowly overtaking iShares which, with 1,299 ETFs, raised $50.4 billion and $194.6 billion respectively. State Street, with 329 ETFs, attracted $32.1 billion in April and $57.3 billion since January.
Although iShares remains the leader in terms of total assets, the momentum of Vanguard’s inflows, concentrated in a much smaller number of products, indicates an investor preference for low-cost, highly scalable ETF solutions.
Flows by asset class
Equity ETFs led April’s inflows with $124.75 billion; year-to-date flows total $362.37 billion, well above the $297.48 billion recorded in the same period of 2025. Bond ETFs raised $37.02 billion during the month, bringing the annual total to $156.19 billion (compared to $98.19 billion a year ago).
Commodity ETFs raised $4.21 billion in April and $20.84 billion since January, down from $32.41 billion in the first four months of 2025.
Active ETFs
Demand for actively managed ETFs remained high: in April they raised $67.02 billion, bringing the year-to-date total to $311.66 billion, almost double the $176.44 billion recorded in the same period of 2025.
Top-selling products
The top 20 ETFs by net inflows totalled $107.94 billion in April. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) alone attracted 25.31 billion. The figures are in line with those reported by FactSet, which estimates a monthly inflow of around 25.2 billion for the VOO and a year-to-date increase of 47.4 billion, against a backdrop of strong rotation towards US equities and semiconductors.
As for Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), the top 10 instruments raised $7.94 billion, with the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounting for $2.01 billion. This performance is in line with data from CoinGlass and SoSoValue, which indicate that US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows of $2.44 billion in April – the best month of 2026 – with the IBIT capturing over 70% of total inflows.
“The S&P 500 rose 10.49% in April and is up 5.70% year-to-date in 2026. Developed markets outside the U.S. gained 9.44% in April, bringing their year-to-date return to 9.63%. Within developed markets, Korea (+38.29%) and Luxembourg (+14.27%) posted the strongest gains in April. Emerging markets advanced 10.53% during the month and are up 7.39% year-to-date, with Taiwan (+26.59%) and Egypt (+21.84%) leading performance.” summarised Deborah Fuhr, managing partner, founder and owner of ETFGI.
ETFGI is a leading independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, based in London, England. Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner, Founder, ETFGI website www.etfgi.com.
Source: ETFWorld
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