We love to celebrate ETF milestones at VettaFi, whether it is a well-established ETF hitting an even higher round number or newer products proving that age is not a factor.
Last week, the first U.S.-listed ETF, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY ), crossed a new threshold. The fund hit $600 billion on Oct. 17, roughly eight months after it was the first ETF to pass $500 billion.
SPY is the grandfather of the industry, having launched in 1993, and is getting stronger every day. For many investors, it remains their go-to vehicle to get equity ETF exposure. The fund accounts for roughly 20% of the U.S. ETF trading volume, and nearly three times as much as Apple.
T. Rowe Price Tapping Into Active Equity ETF Demand
Meanwhile, in October, the T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF (TSPA ) crossed $1 billion in assets, making it the firm’s second largest ETF. TSPA is an actively managed equity ETF with a goal of outperforming the S&P 500 index. So far, the fund has been delivering.
As of Oct. 16, TSPA’s 12.0% annualized three-year total return was ahead of SPY’s 10.9%. The active equity ETF has performed relatively well in the past year too. TSPA has gathered more than $800 million thus far in 2024 as advisors and investors have embraced active equity ETFs.
ALPS Active Fixed Income ETF Shining Too
The ALPS Smith Core Plus Bond ETF (SMTH ) launched in December 2023 and yet it too crossed the $1 billion mark in October. SMTH has outperformed the iShares Core Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG ) by over 100 basis points thus far in 2024, with a 4.1% total return.
Relative to the index, SMTH incurred elevated credit risk, with a 26% weighting in bonds rated BBB and 7% in noninvestment-grade securities. Despite the ETF being under a year old, SMTH leverages the expertise of a well-established management team.
Some Smart Beta ETFs Gaining Ground
Th VictoryShares Free Cash Flow ETF (VFLO ) also just passed $1 billion in assets. It launched in mid-2023. The ETF takes a forward-looking approach to free cash flow investing and tracks a proprietary index supported by VettaFi. VFLO incorporates some quality, value, and growth approaches. This results in an ETF that looks and performs differently from the widely followed Russell 1000 Value index.
VFLO is up 20.4% thus far in 2024, ahead of the 18.5% gain for the iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD ). The ETF’s largest holdings were Cigna and Expedia Group.
I can’t wait to see what milestones we hit in November.
VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”) is the index provider for VFLO, for which it receives an index licensing fee. However, VFLO is not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi, and VettaFi has no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of VFLO.
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