Daniel Shrimski
The pace of growth across Australia’s ETFs industry continued to accelerate over the first half of 2025, with investors adding a record $21.04 billion into ASX-listed exchange traded funds.
This compares with $14.6 billion of ETF investor inflows over the first half of 2024 and the $33.5 billion of total inflows received over the whole of last year and keeps the Australian ETF industry well on track for another record-breaking year.
The record 2025 first-half inflows, combined with the strong gains on global share markets over the six months to 30 June, saw total Australian ETF assets under management surge by $33 billion to a new high of $272.2 billion.
Data released by the ASX and Vanguard shows investors channelled over $7.5 billion into international equity ETFs during the first half, and a further $6.2 billion into Australian equity products. Together these two segments accounted for around 65% of total ETF inflows.
The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS), which became the first ASX ETF to exceed $20 billion in assets during the half, attracted $1.96 billion in investor inflows. This equated to 31% of the total investor inflows into Australian equity ETFs.
Investors also added almost $2.9 billion into Australian fixed income products over the half, taking advantage of the current bond interest rate returns and diversifying their exposures to equity markets.
Vanguard attracts over $7 billion of inflows
“The first half of 2025 has been spectacular for Vanguard, with our ETF products attracting over $7.1 billion in investor inflows – more than a third of the total industry’s inflows – and our total assets under management rising to over $77 billion,” said Vanguard Investments Australia Managing Director, Daniel Shrimski.
“Our strong inflow numbers continue to reflect the fact that a growing number of Australians are preferring to invest in low-cost, index-tracking ETF products that give them exposure to a broad number of securities.
“I really don’t expect that trend to change over time, despite the proliferation of thematic ETF products on the ASX that focus on specific segments and active products that aim to outperform the broader market through the use of complex trading strategies,” Mr. Shrimski said.
Vanguard expanded its diversified ETFs range during the first half, launching the Vanguard Diversified All Growth Index ETF (VDAL) and the Vanguard Diversified Income ETF (VDIF).
“Our multi-asset ETF portfolios aim to meet the primary portfolio construction needs of investors across a spectrum of risk-return profiles, and these types of one-stop products are rapidly growing in popularity,” Mr. Shrimski added.