Managed vehicles recorded net inflows of $1.1 trillion in Q4 2025, according to data from ISS MarketPulse powered by Simfund Total Market. This represented a notable increase from the $885.0 billion raised in the third quarter as well as the highest quarterly total in four years. Net deposits for 2025 overall totaled $3.2 trillion, a slight decrease from the $3.4 trillion gathered during 2024.
Industry Overview
ETFs
ETFs led net inflows with $750.7 billion in the fourth quarter, a sharp increase from $554.3 billion in the third quarter. Equity ETFs were the main driver of growth, drawing $497.6 billion over the quarter. Passive ETFs dominated overall activity, capturing $614.7 billion in net inflows.
While active ETFs manage a much smaller asset base – $1.8 trillion versus $17.7 trillion for passive strategies – they still attracted a solid $136 billion in new money. U.S.-domiciled ETFs accounted for the majority of inflows across both active and passive funds, with overall flows totaling $520.5 billion. Among passive ETFs, U.S. funds gathered $404.6 billion, followed by $59.7 billion into Ireland-domiciled products. U.S.-based funds held a wider lead within active ETFs, drawing $115.9 billion in net inflows, compared with $5.7 billion for Ireland-based funds.
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Mutual Funds
Mutual funds recorded the second highest quarterly inflows in the fourth quarter, totaling $273.5 billion, slightly below the $298.4 billion raised in Q3. These inflows continue to be driven largely by money market funds.
When excluding money market funds, long-term mutual funds posted deeper outflows of $144.3 billion, compared with $35.3 billion in the prior quarter.
Bond funds served as a relative bright spot, recording $120 billion in inflows, although this was lower than the $201.4 billion seen in Q3. Equities, by contrast, remained under pressure, suffering withdrawals of $270.5 billion, most of which came from active funds ($257.5 billion). U.S.-based equity funds saw the sharpest losses, with outflows totaling $275 billion for the quarter.
Collective Investment Trusts
Collective investment trusts saw net commitments of $147.0 billion in Q4, up from $94.7 billion in Q3 and the highest since the first quarter ($177.3 billion). Equity funds accounted for the bulk of inflows at $58.5 billion, a significant improvement over Q3’s minor withdrawals ($2.3 billion) and Q2’s moderate outflows ($11 billion). Allocation funds were the second largest contributor, adding $41.5 billion in net commitments, slightly below the $52.9 billion gathered in Q3. All other asset classes also reported positive flows during the quarter.
Separately Managed Accounts
Retail separately managed accounts recorded $51.1 billion in inflows during the quarter, slightly below the $52 billion recorded in Q3. Equity strategies led with $30.3 billion, up from $21.9 billion in the prior quarter. Allocation funds followed with positive inflows of $13 billion after drawing $10.9 billion in Q3. Institutional separate accounts continued to face heavy redemptions, with net withdrawals surging to $147.1 billion, much harsher than Q3’s $114.3 billion. Within this segment, money market funds attracted $9.9 billion in inflows, while equity strategies suffered the most, with severe outflows totaling $114.5 billion.
Money Market Funds
Money market funds were the largest contributor to mutual fund inflows during the fourth quarter by a wide margin. U.S. short-term money market funds led the way, attracting $351.1 billion in net inflows, a sharp increase from $217.6 billion in Q3 and a more than $300 billion lead over the next highest inflow category. Asia money market funds ranked second, posting $45.4 billion in inflows and driven overwhelmingly by China-based funds, though this represented a step down from the strong $62.2 billion collected in the prior quarter. Additional inflows came from U.S.-based prime funds ($16.6 billion) and U.K.-based Sterling money market funds ($15.7 billion).
Fixed Income Strategies
Fixed income strategies generated the second highest mutual fund inflows in the fourth quarter at $120.1 billion. This did, however, mark a slowdown from the $201.4 billion recorded in Q3.
Demand was strongest in global markets, with Global Fixed Income posting the third largest net commitments for the quarter at $42 billion, down from $54.3 billion in the prior quarter. Ireland-domiciled funds accounted for the largest portion of flows at $15.6 billion, followed by Luxembourg ($9.5 billion). PIMCO emerged as the leading manager in the category overall, attracting $10.4 billion.
Europe Fixed Income also recorded positive inflows of $29.5 billion. Emerging Markets Fixed Income served as another leading international bond category, gathering $12.1 billion in Q4, in line with the $12.4 billion recorded in Q3. PIMCO also led in this category at $2.8 billion, followed by Morgan Stanley ($1.1 billion).
ETF Category Trends
Equity funds remained the dominant driver of ETF inflows in Q4, attracting $497.6 billion, a sharp increase from $315.5 billion in Q3. Gains were broad-based, with large-cap strategies leading the surge.
Large Blend funds attracted $179.7 billion in net deposits, well ahead of Global Equity Large Cap at $81.4 billion. Within Large Blend, U.S.-domiciled funds dominated with $160.7 billion in inflows, followed by those based in Ireland ($7.7 billion) and Canada ($5 billion). Global Equity Large Cap also saw inflows edge higher from Q3, supported by U.S.-based funds ($50.2 billion) and Ireland-domiciled funds ($19.4 billion).
Vanguard led both segments, gathering $76.5 billion in Large Blend and $30.2 billion in Global Equity Large Cap, with BlackRock close behind at $51.8 billion and $18.2 billion, respectively.
Other large-cap segments also posted gains, including Large Growth ($42.4 billion) and Large Value ($32.4 billion). Beyond large-cap strategies, Asia Equity ($28.1 billion) and Emerging Markets Equity ($25.9 billion) both attracted positive flows. While Asia Equity predominantly drew flows from funds based in China ($22.2 billion), Emerging Markets Equity flows predominantly came from developed markets, such as the U.S. ($15.2 billion) and Ireland ($6.7 billion).
Other ETF Categories
ETFs continued to support a wide range of investor use cases.
Commodities ETFs gathered net commitments of $29.5 billion in Q4, slightly lower than $30.3 billion in Q3. This was strongest in gold-focused funds, including the SPDR Gold Shares ETF ($7.8 billion), Hua An YiFu Gold ETF ($2.5 billion), and iShares Gold Trust ($1.8 billion).
Fixed income ETFs meanwhile saw increased net deposits, attracting $190.4 billion in Q4 compared to $165.6 billion in Q3. Within the asset class, Intermediate Core Bond funds brought in the most at $20.2 billion, while Ultrashort Bond funds added $19.5 billion. Vanguard gathered the most within Intermediate Core Bond at $10.0 billion, while BlackRock led Ultrashort Bond inflows with $12.1 billion.
Visit the blog again soon to see part two, covering retail SMAs, CITs, and separate accounts.
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Authors:
Alan Hess, Vice President, U.S. Fund Research, ISS Market Intelligence
Antara Maity, Senior Associate, U.S. Fund Research, ISS Market Intelligence
Aishwarya Mahalingam, Associate, U.S. Fund Research, ISS Market Intelligence
