Vanguard cements top ETF spot after a record year of inflows from Australian investors

By Vanguard

ETFs

Vanguard ETF products attracted $16 billion (31%) of investor inflows over 2025

Australian investors channelled a record $51.8 billion into ASX-listed exchange traded funds (ETFs) last year – a 48% increase on the previous ETF inflows record of $34.9 billion set in 2024.

The record 2025 inflows, combined with strong returns on global equities and bond markets, saw the Australian ETF industry’s total assets under management surge by $82.5 billion (34.5%) to $321.6 billion at 31 December 2025 from the $239 billion level at the end of 2024.

Vanguard remained Australia’s largest ETFs assets manager after attracting a record $16 billion (31%) of total Australian investor inflows. As at 31 December 2025 Vanguard was managing $89.6 billion in ETF investors’ assets, and since the start of 2026 this has increased to more than $90 billion.

The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS) also remained Australia’s largest ETF product. VAS attracted more than $3 billion in investor inflows over 2025, with its assets under management rising to over $22.5 billion. Meanwhile, the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares Index ETF (VGS) remained Australia’s second-largest ETF product. VGS attracted more than $2.6 billion in investor inflows, which helped to lift its assets under management to over $14 billion.

“The Australian ETFs industry had an incredible year, with investors’ inflows and the industry’s assets under management reaching new heights,” said Daniel Shrimski, Managing Director, Vanguard Investments Australia. “At the end of 2023, when industry assets were around $170 billion, we were talking about when industry assets would exceed $200 billion.

“They did in 2024, and by the end of 2025 they had exceeded $300 billion. So, in just over the last two years alone, the size of the Australian industry has almost doubled. That’s testament to the huge increase in the number of Australians now using ETFs as the core of their investment portfolio.

“Vanguard’s expectations are that the Australian ETFs industry will remain on a strong growth trajectory as more Australians discover their benefits and as more low-cost index-tracking ETF products offering a greater choice of investment strategies are listed on the ASX,” Mr. Shrimski said.

International equity products continued to attract the largest share of investor inflows, with a record $19.9 billion being added over 2025. Australian equity ETFs remained the second-largest assets segment, with investors adding $13.3 billion.

Separately, investors continued to direct record levels of capital into Australian fixed income securities. Around $8.4 billion was added into this segment over 2025.

“2025 was another milestone year for the Australian ETFs industry, and in a highly competitive market Vanguard remains focused on taking a stand for all investors, treating them fairly, and giving them the best chance for investment success,” Mr. Shrimski added.

“We are achieving that by providing investors with ETF products that have been designed to offer a broad range of investment solutions that are available directly to retail investors on the ASX and increasingly via third-party investing platforms and financial advisers.”

Australian 2025 quarter-by-quarter ETFs net cash flow by asset class

Asset class	Total 2025 Cash Flow (A$m)*	Q4 2025 Cash Flow (A$m)*	Q3 2025 Cash Flow (A$m)	Q2 2025 Cash Flow (A$m)	Q1 2025 Cash Flow (A$m)
International equity	19,941	5,276	7,188	3,573	3,904
Australian equity	13,304	3,952	3,070	3,129	3,153
Australian fixed income	8,388	3,088	2,412	1,483	1,405
Commodity	2,246	538	644	381	683
International fixed income	2,063	232	783	490	558
Cash	2,039	819	436	-85	869
Multi asset	1,665	565	571	296	233
Infrastructure	815	156	279	255	125
Australian property	389	120	121	41	107
International property	817	220	201	262	134
Currency	-29	-2	-9	-22	4
Digital currency	282	76	104	56	46
Total	51,884	15,040	15,800	9,859	11,221

^Sources:^{ASX and Vanguard data. *As at 31 December 2025. Figures rounded to the nearest whole number.}

Top 5 Vanguard Australia ETFs by cash flow (2025)

Product	ASX Code	Cash Flow (A$m)
Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF	VAS	3,078
Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF	VGS	2,619
Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF	VHY	1,634
Vanguard Global Aggregate Bond Index (Hedged) ETF	VBND	1,633
Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares (Hedged) ETF	VGAD	1,441

^Source:^{Vanguard. As at 31 December 2025. Figures rounded to the nearest whole number.}

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