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The theme song for the exchange-traded fund industry could be Frank Sinatra’s “It Was a Great Year,” as the industry reached $1.25 trillion in annual assets in November, faster than at any other time in history.
“I think that, in particular, you look at all the different asset classes – stocks, bonds, commodities, gold, yes – it’s been a very good year to own assets. Assets mainly across the board have more money than good performance. So, it’s been a good place to return assets. So, I think we’ve seen flows coming in because of the kind of positive behavior, like the Bar asset, but also Mattolini of the risk type,” the head of research strategists at State Street Investment Management, told FOX Business in October when the industry reached an earlier milestone.
State Street manages more than $5 trillion in assets with clients in more than 60 countries.
| A ticker | Security | Finally | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STT | Company STATE STREET CORP. | 132.22 | +1.52 |
+1.16% |
Last year, ETF inflows reached $1 trillion on Dec. 11, 2024. Bartolini correctly predicted that the industry would top the $1 billion mark on October 15; it reached that level early in the morning. The full-year total is expected to reach $1.4 trillion, revised up from $1.3 trillion, helped in part by bonds.
“Fixed income ETFs – those continue to gain more and more in popularity each year. And now you have them breaking records for a full-year record in the first nine months. And that’s because the use cases for all fixed income ETFs have expanded beyond beta building blocks to now contain active strategies with proven track records,” he added.
HAND ON FUND MANAGERS DRIVE ETF GROWTH
Bond ETFs held $42 billion last month and are on pace to gain a record $400 billion this year.
Gold ETF inflows are also on fire, on pace to break annual records this year, taking in just $1 billion in November. Even if the price of the yellow metal continues to break records, it is trading above $ 4,482.80 an ounce, as of December 23. The income is already $ 42 billion.
The SPDR Gold Trust ETF, the largest ETF backed by physical gold, saw record inflows and gained more than 68%, while the smaller SPDR Gold minishares ETF rose by the same amount.
| A ticker | Security | Finally | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GLD | SPDR GOLD SHARES TRUST – USD ACC | 411.93 | -1.71 |
-0.41% |
| GLDM | SPDR® GOLD MINISHARES® TRUST – USD ACC | 88.70 | -0.31 |
-0.35% |
ETF LEADER BOARD IS MANAGED BY NIMBLE FUNDS
Bartolini and others describe the traditional case for owning gold:
Gold’s Bullish background
- Inflation continues above the Federal Reserve’s preferred target of 2%.
- Global instability
- Interest rates are falling
- US debt, deficit
- A weak US dollar
- Institutional instability at the Fed, Japan
- Gold purchases by major banks continued
There is another bullish figure for the precious metal despite the market looking stretched.
ETF LATEST NEWS
Spot gold continues to rise as traders and ETF investors see the yellow metal as a safe haven. (Stock)
“Tons of gold are actually below the high watermark,” Bartolini said. “Therefore, the actual number of tonnes of gold being mined is below that high watermark,” suggests another look-up.
| A ticker | Security | Finally | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLV | ISHARES SILVER TRUST – USD ACC | 69.08 | +3,86 |
+5.92% |
| SIVR | ABRDN PHYSICAL SILVER SHARES ETF – USD ACC | 72.52 | +4.03 |
+5.88% |
Gold prices have advanced more than 70% this year, and silver has jumped more than 140%, both sitting at record highs.
Arberdeen Physical Silver Shares ETF and iShares Silver Trust are advanced and precious metals.
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This story, originally published on 10/14/25, has been updated with November ETF data from State Street.
