Investors add record $33.5bn into ASX-listed ETFs in 2024

By Tony Kaye, Senior Personal Finance Writer

ETFs

Australia’s ETFs industry has reached new heights after huge inflows in 2024.

ASX-listed exchange traded funds (ETFs) attracted a record $33.49 billion of investors’ cash inflows in 2024, smashing the previous $23.6 billion post-COVID full-year inflows record set in 2021.

The record inflows, coupled with strong growth on global equities and bond markets, saw the Australian ETF industry’s total assets under management soar 38% to $239.09 billion, a rise of $66.2 billion from the $172.87 billion total reached at the end of 2023.

Vanguard attracted a record $9.5 billion of cash inflows during 2024, further cementing its place as Australia’s largest ETFs assets manager.

The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS), which invests in the top 300 companies on the ASX, remained Australia’s largest ETF at the end of 2024 with $17.8 billion of assets under management.

“2024 was a stellar year for the Australian ETFs industry, reflecting both the ongoing growth of this market segment in general terms and the strong returns from global investment markets over 2024,” said Adam DeSanctis, Vanguard’s Head of ETF Capital Markets, Asia-Pacific.

“Low-cost index products, which hold over 80% of the Australian industry’s assets, continued to capture most investor inflows despite the proliferation of new active ETF products.

“Some of the key highlights over 2024 were the large investor cash flows into international equity ETFs, primarily index-tracking funds, which at a record $17 billion represented around half of the ETF industry’s total inflows last year.

“So it’s very clear that more Australian investors than ever before are using ETFs to access offshore markets. For example, Vanguard’s MSCI Index International Shares ETF (VGS) attracted close to $2 billion in investor cash flows last year, which helped to lift its total assets under management to almost $10 billion.

“Australian equity ETFs also attracted robust investor inflows of around $7.8 billion over 2024, demonstrating that investors still see a strong benefit in having a home-market exposure.”

The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS), which invests in the top 300 companies on the ASX, remained Australia’s largest ETF after its assets under management increased by more than $3 billion over the course of 2024 to $17.8 billion.

“Another highlight last year was the solid inflows into bond ETFs,” said Mr DeSanctis. “With interest rates set to remain higher for longer, we don’t expect that trend to change over the medium term.”

Over the 2024 year Australian fixed income ETFs attracted $4.4 billion in investor inflows, while international fixed income ETFs recorded additional inflows of $1.2 billion.

“What’s most important for all ETF investors to remember is that the strong market returns from the past few years are not an indicator of future performance, which is why having a long-term focus and diversification across different investment markets and asset classes is imperative,” said Mr DeSanctis.

Australian 2024 quarter by quarter ETFs net cash flow by asset class

Asset class	Q4 2024 Cash Flow (A$m)*	Q3 2024 Cash Flow (A$m)	Q2 2024 Cash Flow (A$m)	Q1 2024 Cash Flow (A$m)
International equity	4,595	7,732	2,312	2,487
Australian equity	2,338	2,092	1,880	1,486
Australian fixed income	1,741	1,491	483	694
Commodity	37	325	104	-112
International fixed income	419	445	246	108
Cash	228	152	-16	-21
Multi asset	304	211	138	75
Infrastructure	283	184	229	308
Australian property	-166	-43	-0.5	-27
International property	219	125	99.65	134
Currency	-9	-8	-2	-6
Digital currency	146	39	8	0
Total	10,135	12,745	5,481	5,126

^{Sources: ASX and Vanguard data. *As at 31 December 2024}

Top 5 Vanguard Australia ETFs by cash flow (2024)

Product	ASX Code	Cash Flow (A$m)
Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF	VAS	2,298
Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF	VGS	1,924
Vanguard Global Aggregate Bond Index (Hedged) ETF	VBND	1,008
Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares (Hedged) ETF	VGAD	722.3
Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF	VHY	711.5

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