$69 billion in inflows this year alone; 'a milestone that signals the maturity of the ETF market'
An exchange-traded fund has crossed $1 trillion in total assets for the first time in history.
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF surpassed $1 trillion in total assets Wednesday, Bloomberg reported, citing $1.7 billion in new inflows. It is the first ETF — excluding mutual funds — ever to reach that threshold.
The fund (ticker: VOO) is an index fund that tracks the S&P 500, Wall Street's benchmark index. Since its launch in 2010, it has become a go-to product for investors seeking straightforward exposure to market returns. At an expense ratio of just 0.03 percent, it is widely regarded as one of the lowest-cost investment vehicles available to long-term investors.
Last year, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF overtook State Street's SPDR S&P 500 — the first ETF ever listed in the United States — to become the world's largest ETF by total assets.
The fund has attracted more than $69 billion in new inflows this year alone. A rally on Wall Street that began in April also helped lift its total assets.
Ben Johnson, head of client solutions at fund research firm Morningstar, told Bloomberg that the $1 trillion milestone is "the latest sign of the maturity of the ETF market," adding that ETFs, "once relegated to the periphery, have become the investment vehicle of choice for millions of investors around the world."
Vanguard was founded in 1975 by Jack Bogle, the pioneer of low-cost index investing. As of November last year, the firm managed more than $12 trillion in total assets, making it the world's largest mutual fund manager and the second-largest ETF manager after BlackRock.
moon@heraldcorp.com
