BlackRock Tops 2017 ETF Flows

When it came to flows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) last year, BlackRock and The Vanguard Group were the two winners, with BlackRock receiving $203.2 million in ETF flows throughout the year and Vanguard, $138.2 million.

It stands to reason, then, that the top 10 individual ETFs with the greatest inflows are all products of these companies, with BlackRock’s iShares Core S&P [Standard & Poor’s] 500 ETF taking in the most ($30.2 million), followed by its iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF ($21.6 million) and the Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund ($17.4 million).

In line with these developments, BlackRock and Vanguard were also the two leading firms in terms of total ETF assets under management (AUM); however, BlackRock had nearly twice the assets that Vanguard did—$1.337 billion vs. $855 million.

The data additionally show that the industry is growing more top-heavy, with nearly all of the flows surging to the largest managers. For example, the top four ETF managers—BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street Global and Schwab—had a combined $396.4 million of inflows to their ETFs last year, or 89.3% of the $443.8 million flowing to the top 20 managers.

After Schwab’s $26.0 million of inflows, the figures drop precipitously, with $8.7 million going to First Trust Advisers, which ranked fifth. Invesco Power Shares, sixth on the list, received $6.1 million.