April Highlights
- The Morningstar Global 60/40 Index crawled back from its early-month losses, scraping by with a 0.76% gain in April 2025.
- US exchange-traded funds gathered $58 billion in April.
- Ultrashort-bond ETFs stayed hot with $15 billion in inflows.
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF remains the largest ETF by net assets.
- Outflows from iShares Core S&P 500 ETF pulled iShares’ flows negative.
Stock ETF Performance: Markets Hit Choppy Waters in April
On April 2, President Donald Trump announced plans for a barrage of tariffs, sparking uncertainty in the markets. US stocks dropped sharply following the announcement and bottomed out on April 8. Even foreign stocks felt the pain. The president softened most of the initial tariffs later in the month, and the market rebounded in relief.
Despite their comeback, US stocks’ total return ended negative for the month, but only just so. IShares Core S&P Total US Stock Market ETF ITOT tracks an index representing nearly the entire US stock market. After falling 11.69% from April 1 through 8, it recovered and lost only 84 basis points for the month.
Year-to-date performance figures were not as forgiving. ITOT fell 5.93% through to the end of April, and most other US stock ETFs followed. The large-blend Morningstar Category average fell 4.93% over the same stretch. However, some international stock ETFs, such as those listed below, clawed back their losses and ended April with a gain.
The Blended Global Portfolio eked out a small gain of 76 basis points in April, despite the market roiling. Both Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF BND and Vanguard Total International Bond ETF BNDX remained steady throughout the turmoil. Vanguard Total World Stock ETF VT crawled back from its nadir on April 8 and ended the month in the black.
IShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF MTUM performed well amid the chaos. It fell like many US stock funds in early April, but its strong recovery led to a 3.71% return on the month. Its year-to-date performance was positive as well, unlike the other US stock ETFs shown above in Exhibit 1.
Sector Equity Outflows Continue as Investors Pull Out of Financial and Energy ETFs
Sector ETFs’ March woes compounded in April. Investors pulled out $13.9 billion in addition to the $6.4 billion they yanked out in March. The financials and energy sectors led the exodus with $6.8 billion in outflows.
Sector ETFs have received mixed reception over the years. They raked in $29.8 billion in 2024 but saw outflows of $15.1 billion and $12.4 billion in 2023 and 2022, respectively. Most sectors leaked money over the first four months of 2025. For example, investors have withdrawn $6.9 billion year-to-date from energy sector ETFs. But there were some exceptions. Technology sector ETFs attracted $2.6 billion through the end of April.
State Street’s ETFs were hit the hardest, with $8.2 billion in outflows across its sector ETFs. Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF XLE and Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF XLH suffered investors’ wrath, losing $4.3 billion combined in April.
US stock and taxable bond ETFs saw substantial inflows of $42.3 billion combined, which fell short of January’s $64.1 billion. April’s figures reflect a resilient pool of investors given the greater levels of uncertainty.
Investors Seek Safety in Ultrashort Bond ETFs Amid Market Uncertainty
Small-blend stock ETFs also took a hit in April. They suffered the most outflows of any category. Allocation ETFs, which hold a mix of stocks and bonds, saw modest outflows for the month. Notably, President Trump stood firm on tariffs aimed at Chinese companies, and the flows into Chinese stock ETFs reflect that steadfastness. They saw outflows of $4.1 billion for the month.
Investors sought refuge from the stock market’s volatility and bought more ultrashort bonds in April than they did in March. Cash substitutes like SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF BIL and iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF SGOV raked in $6 billion and $5.5 billion, respectively.
S&P 500 Tracker VOO Buoys Vanguard ETF Inflows
Vanguard’s ETF flows trounced the competition in April. Massive inflows to Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO continued to inflate its size and pushed it past other ETFs tracking the S&P 500. It surpassed SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY for the first time on Feb. 18, 2025, only to fall behind a day later. But VOO regained its lead in March and sustained it through April. Investors added $20.1 billion to VOO in April, compared with SPY’s inflow of $2.0 billion. The difference reflects the disposition of Vanguard’s clients, who tend to be well-behaved. So, its ETFs have historically benefited from a steadier stream of inflows than peers.
Charles Schwab‘s ETFs also had a strong month, as shown below in Exhibit 5. Investors piled $12.4 billion into its ETFs in April, or about 3% of its net ETF assets.
On the other hand, April hit iShares’ flows hard, with $8.9 billion fleeing from its ETFs. Investors pulled $13.8 billion out of iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV. IShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF SGOV softened the blow, corralling $5.5 billion. IShares and State Street’s flows tend to start slow over the first few months of a calendar year, but they usually pick up steam in the later months. Both fund companies have more than doubled their first-quarter net flows in the fourth quarter, on average, from 2009 through 2024.