ETF asset classes
Equity continued to dominate ETF flows, pulling in $8.7 billion in May, down slightly from $9.6 billion in April but still more than double the $3.9 billion seen in May 2025.
Bond ETFs added $2.6 billion, nearly double April’s $1.4 billion, while balanced and specialty ETFs brought in $1.1 billion and $1.0 billion respectively. Money market ETFs added $183 million.
ETF assets by category at the end of May stood at $568.9 billion for equity, $162.5 billion for bond, $49.0 billion for balanced and $42.9 billion for specialty, with money market ETFs holding $36.4 billion.
Year to date, ETFs continue to draw in far more new money than mutual funds. Through the first five months of 2026, ETF net sales total $86.6 billion compared with $22.7 billion for mutual funds, with both figures running well ahead of where they stood at this point in 2025.
The back-to-back monthly gains have widened the year-over-year comparisons considerably. Mutual fund assets are now up 19.2% from May 2025, while ETF assets have grown by close to 49.8% over the same 12-month stretch.
