U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have already shattered their annual inflow record with three months remaining in 2026. State Street Investment Management reported year-to-date inflows of $1.54 trillion through September, surpassing the 2025 record of $1.52 trillion. ETFGI, another research firm, recorded $1.56 trillion in net inflows for the same period, exceeding the $1.50 trillion total from all of 2025. Despite differences in measurement methods, both trackers confirm the previous year's record has been broken.
The strong inflow trend continued into October, with TD Securities reporting $203.8 billion in U.S. ETF inflows for the month. This marked the second-highest monthly inflow in industry history, trailing only December 2025's $250 billion. Year-to-date net flows through October 30 reached approximately $1.73 trillion, setting a new record for this point in any year. Notably, this buying spree occurred during a down month for stocks, with the S&P 500 falling 0.93% and the Nasdaq 100 dropping 6.65%.
Fixed income ETFs saw record inflows of $71.0 billion in October, with municipal bond ETFs experiencing their best month ever at $21.1 billion. Active ETFs, where managers pick investments rather than tracking an index, attracted $613.7 billion year to date through October 30. Investors appeared to be rotating between different S&P 500 ETFs, with the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) leading inflows at $23.7 billion, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) saw the largest outflow at $6.9 billion. This shift may be driven by fee differences, as SPY's expense ratio is higher than that of VOO and IVV.
TD Securities noted that some of October's inflows may have been recycled cash from tax-loss harvesting, where investors sell losing positions to lock in tax deductions and then reinvest in ETFs. Additionally, not all categories grew, as U.S.-listed crypto ETFs saw $2.3 billion in outflows and gold ETFs lost $699 million. Matthew Bartolini of State Street Investment Management projects full-year 2026 ETF inflows to reach $2.3 trillion, though this should be treated as a forecast rather than a guarantee.