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US funds giant Vanguard has beaten off nearest challengers Sydney-based Betashares and US rival BlackRock to become Australia’s best-selling exchange traded fund provider in 2024, after it pulled in nearly A$10bn ($6.2bn) across all its locally listed strategies.
Australia’s ETF sector enjoyed another year of massive growth in 2024 as net new money reached A$30.8bn, double the A$15bn accumulated during the previous 12-month period, based on the latest version of the Betashares Australian ETF review.
Vanguard was the biggest beneficiary of this growth as it took in A$9.5bn in net new money between January and December, representing around 31 per cent of total industry flows.
This reflects a huge 112 per cent jump from the previous year, when it accumulated net inflows of A$4.5bn, according to the report.
This article was previously published by Ignites Asia, a title owned by the FT Group.
It has pulled ahead of Betashares, which recorded A$8.26bn in net flows last year, an increase of just 32 per cent from the previous year, when it saw A$5.63bn in net new money.
It is also ahead of US rival BlackRock’s iShares, which itself inched ahead of VanEck to emerge as the third best-selling ETF provider in Australia with A$6.6bn in net flows over the entirety of 2024.
The two US firms have remained neck and neck, however, as VanEck had A$6.1bn in net flows last year. In 2023, BlackRock and VanEck recorded net inflows of A$2.9bn and A$2.95bn respectively.
Betashares noted that the Australian ETF industry continued to be highly concentrated, with the top three issuers in terms of flows accounting for a combined A$24.4bn or nearly 80 per cent of all the new money ploughed into the sector last year.
Meanwhile, Mirae Asset‘s Global X outpaced Melbourne-based Talaria Asset Management to become the top five ETF provider by flows with A$1.2bn last year.
Vanguard’s giant flagship Australian equities ETF, which is the country’s largest ETF for the third year in a row, was a big contributor to the fund firm’s annual flows.
The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF ended 2024 with assets of A$17.9bn, after drawing in A$2.3bn in net flows over the year. It was both the top ETF product by assets and inflows last year.
BlackRock’s iShares S&P 500 ETF climbed up one spot on the list of Australia’s largest ETFs, after it grew its assets to A$11bn over the year. It replaced the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF, which had A$10bn in assets as of end-2024.
Australia’s ETF industry ended the year at an all-time high, with A$246.3bn in total assets across the 403 products listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and Cboe Australia.
That reflects a significant year-on-year increase of 38.8 per cent, or A$68.9bn, a record for the flourishing industry.
Vanguard is also the industry’s largest ETF provider by assets, holding around A$67.17bn across 29 exchange traded products, according to the latest ASX data.
Betashares has also retained its spot as second out of the 53 ETF issuers in Australia, with A$44.52bn in funds under management.
The top five is rounded out by BlackRock’s iShares, with A$42.22bn in assets, VanEck at A$23.6bn, Dimensional Fund Advisors at A$15bn and Magellan at A$10.4bn, according to ASX data.
*Ignites Asia is a news service published by FT Specialist for professionals working in the asset management industry. Trials and subscriptions are available at ignitesasia.com.
