Morningstar’s Fund Family Digest is here to help investors evaluate the largest fund families in the US. The 2026 edition illustrates the ways the asset management industry is evolving to compete with low-cost passive investments that continue to attract investors, as well as classic due diligence considerations like the Morningstar Medalist Rating, the Morningstar Rating for funds, and fees.
Download the full US report for 2026 here.
A small number of firms continue to dominate the US fund industry. Vanguard alone manages more than USD 11 trillion in US mutual fund and exchange-traded fund assets, more than the combined total of the smallest 140 asset managers in this report.
Although smaller asset managers can be topnotch stewards of investor capital and deliver strong performance, scale remains a competitive advantage. Larger firms can spread costs across a broader asset base, supporting greater investment in technology, distribution, and operations while keeping fees low. As such, industry consolidation remains a key theme.
While the very largest firms haven’t made acquisitions big enough to materially affect their assets under management, the next tier of managers has been more active. Hot off the presses, Victory Capital in late August 2026 announced plans to acquire First Eagle, just a few months after First Eagle closed its acquisition of Diamond Hill in February 2026. Other upcoming combinations include Nuveen’s purchase of Schroders and Wellington Management’s acquisition of Hartford Funds. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs and T. Rowe Price are bolstering their ETF capabilities by snapping up Neos and Innovator (Goldman Sachs) and F/m Investments (T. Rowe Price).
Vanguard Closes In on the Top Spot for ETFs
Now in the third year of its modern era, the 2026 Fund Family Digest shows Vanguard closing the gap with BlackRock for assets under management in US-domiciled ETFs. In 2024, the gap was nearly USD 200 billion; this is the first year the gap is less than USD 100 billion. Although these are still enormous sums of money, Vanguard briefly overtook BlackRock earlier this year before slipping back into second place by the end of June. These two are likely to continue jockeying for first place depending on market moves, trading activity, and product development, considering the significant overlap between their lineups.
Dimensional and JPMorgan stand out as two of the largest providers of active ETFs. Both have converted mutual funds to ETFs as well as launched ETFs. JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF JEPI has garnered significant investor demand and ranks as the firm’s third largest fund as of June 2026. Both Dimensional and JPMorgan have just over one-third of their fund AUM in ETFs.
… and It Dominates the US Fund Industry Overall
Broadening out to include assets in US-domiciled open-end mutual funds, Vanguard remains solidly ahead of the pack—and by a long shot. Vanguard continues as the US fund industry’s largest asset manager, with more than USD 11 billion in assets under management, which is twice the amount of each of the next-largest firms, BlackRock (including iShares) and Fidelity, and more than the combined total of the smallest 140 asset managers in this report.
Capital Group stands out as the US’ largest purely active manager; it has long been one of the most popular asset managers among financial advisors and their clients. Although Capital Group was fairly early among traditional asset managers to offer active ETFs, they remain a small portion of the firm’s AUM, and the firm’s lineup remains anchored in equity open-end mutual funds. By comparison, JPMorgan has been more active on the ETF front. It now has 76 ETFs that, helped by its popular derivative income ETFs, comprise nearly 40% of its AUM.
Vanguard Alone Manages Nearly Half of All Passive AUM in the US
The US fund industry remains highly concentrated among the largest players. Overall, Vanguard, BlackRock, and Fidelity manage about 50% of fund assets under management in the US.
Bifurcating the US fund industry into two buckets—active funds, which consume roughly USD 16.9 trillion, and passive funds, which total about USD 22 trillion—shows that both segments are top-heavy, but just a few firms truly dominate on the passive side. The top five active managers, including primarily passive Vanguard, hold 46% of active AUM. When it comes to passive AUM, Vanguard alone controls 44%, the same portion as the next four largest managers combined.
High-Rated Parent Firms Offer Stability and Well-Priced Funds
Against a backdrop of ongoing industry change, Morningstar’s Parent ratings focus on factors that endure. Morningstar’s Manager Research analysts assign Parent ratings to more than 100 of the 150 largest firms in the US. Only 11 of the largest 150 earn analysts’ greatest conviction and a High Parent rating. (Boston Trust Walden and Wellington Management also earn High Parent ratings, but neither is among the largest 150 by US fund AUM, and thus they are not included in this report’s leaderboards.) Morningstar’s Parent rating is one of three fundamental pillars that underpin each fund’s Morningstar Medalist Rating.
Parent ratings are relatively stable but do change from time to time. In 2026, J.P. Morgan Asset Management earned a Parent rating upgrade to High from Above Average. In recent years, it has incrementally improved the quality of its fund management teams, resources, and investment processes. It continues to stand apart for its demonstrated commitment to clients; it adopts a consultative approach and reinforces alignment with fundholders through incentives for investment professionals and client-facing teams alike.
Pimco also earned an increase in its Parent rating to High from Above Average in 2026. Pimco has long been a fixed-income juggernaut, continues to employ some of the best managers and analysts in the business, and offers a solid lineup of funds including giants like Pimco Total Return Fund PTTRX.
Firms with High Parent ratings tend to have stable investment teams, as demonstrated by a high manager retention figure, and stable, strong fund offerings. High-rated Parent firms also tend to offer investors a good deal overall, compared with the competition. Here, the Average Fee Level – Peer Group compares each share class’ expenses against Morningstar Category peers in the same distribution channel and considering an active or passive approach.
Vanguard Stands Out With a High Percentage of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Funds
Among funds offered by the 10 largest firms in the US, investors have a plethora of promising options, and Vanguard leads the pack.
Morningstar assigns forward-looking Medalist Ratings to convey the manager research team’s confidence in a strategy’s ability to outperform its Morningstar Category average after fees. Ratings range from Gold to Negative, and funds rated Gold, Silver, and Bronze are all expected to outperform. The exhibit below shows the percentage of each firm’s share classes that earn higher ratings under the Medalist Rating framework.
At nine of the 10 largest firms, 60% or more of share classes earn Gold, Silver, or Bronze Medalist Ratings. This is impressive considering that, on average within the 150 largest firms, less than one-third of share classes earn higher ratings. Dodge & Cox doesn’t appear on this list because it lands just outside the 10 largest firms in terms of assets, but it deserves mention because 100% of its share classes earn higher Medalist Ratings, and 85% earn Gold Medalist Ratings.
For readers interested in the top fund families around the world, check out the full suite of 2026 Fund Family Digests: