Active ETFs Hit Record $2.72 Trillion on Inflow Streak

Investors pushed a record $663.59 billion into active exchange-traded funds through August, according to ETFGI, a research and consultancy firm that tracks the ETF industry. That pushed global assets in the category to an all-time high of $2.72 trillion.

Key Takeaways: Equity-focused active ETFs absorbed most of August’s new money. Active ETF assets have climbed 42.6% since the year began. AVLV and CNEQ both ranked among August’s biggest fund gatherers. The milestone caps a stretch of continuous demand. Active ETFs have now pulled in positive net flows for 77 consecutive months, ETFGI found. Assets have also grown 42.6% since the start of the year, when the category held $1.91 trillion.

The rotation also arrived alongside gains across global markets. The S&P 500 slipped 0.06% in July but remained up 10.14% for the year, said Deborah Fuhr, managing partner, founder and owner of ETFGI. Developed markets outside the U.S. climbed 14.6% year to date, while emerging markets rose 9.4%.

Where that money is landing shows a shift in investor behavior. Equity-focused active ETFs absorbed $42.47 billion in August, or 58.1% of the month’s inflows, according to ETFGI’s report. More investors are choosing active stock-pickers over traditional index funds as a result. Equity-focused active ETFs have also gathered $398.25 billion so far this year, ETFGI’s data showed. That is nearly double the $212.43 billion collected over the same span in 2025. Fixed income-focused active ETFs, meanwhile, added $29.73 billion in August, or 40.7% of the month’s total, the report showed. Year-to-date flows reached $208.49 billion, up from $144.75 billion at the same point in 2025.

Three providers, Dimensional, J.P. Morgan and iShares, managed a combined $825.9 billion, or 30.4% of industry assets, according to ETFGI. Those same three firms gathered $155.5 billion in net inflows this year, about 23.4% of the industry total.

Active Funds Draw the Biggest Gains Individual funds told a similar story in August. The Avantis US Large Cap Value ETF (AVLV) led the industry’s top 20 active net asset gatherers, pulling in $3.41 billion on its own, according to ETFGI’s report. The top 20 funds collected $25.39 billion combined during the month. Also inside that top 20 was the Alger Concentrated Equity ETF (CNEQ), a fund built around a smaller number of high-conviction stock picks. It brought in $1.41 billion for the month, pushing its total assets to $2.4 billion, ETFGI’s data show. By the end of August, the active ETF market spanned 5,797 funds and 7,950 listings from 736 providers, ETFGI reported. Those funds traded across 39 countries and 50 exchanges worldwide.