November ETF Flows Highlights
- US exchange-traded funds attracted $137 billion in net new assets, bringing the year-to-date total to $1.2 trillion.
- More money flowed out of the digital assets Morningstar Category in November than any previous month.
- S&P 500 trackers Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO and iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV topped the charts for the most inflows in ETFs.
- Investors piled money into ETFs tracking the healthcare sector and leveraged-equity ETFs, despite broader categories dominating November flows.
Index funds collected 73% of the $137 billion US ETF net inflows in November. Active ETFs got off to a strong start early in 2025, but they have seen their lowest proportion of flows in October and November since the beginning of the year.
Strategic-beta ETFs, which seek to either improve their return profile or reduce their risk relative to broad market benchmarks, had their best month of the year, pulling in $14 billion in net new investments. These ETFs represented around 12% of all net inflows from 2020 through 2024, but that number has dropped to 7% year to date through November 2025.
The table below shows November returns for a sample of Morningstar analyst-rated ETFs that represent major sections of the stock and bond markets.
Classic Stock and Bond ETFs Lead the Way as VOO and IVV Dominate
Morningstar Categories like large-blend stocks and ultrashort bonds brought in the most fresh money. In fact, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO set another record for its highest month of net inflows at $21 billion, representing almost half Vanguard’s November net flows. VOO and iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV made the top two spots for the most net inflows, capturing a combined $33 billion in net investment. That was over half all flows into US equity ETFs in November.
Taxable-bond ETFs pulled in just about $37 billion in fresh capital, but not all the categories under that umbrella saw positive flows. Outflows hit the government mortgage-backed bond Morningstar Category to the tune of over $2 billion. Most of that was attributable to iShares MBS ETF MBB, which lost almost $2.5 billion.
Digital Asset ETFs Take a Hit From Bitcoin and Ethereum Fallout
ETFs in the digital assets Morningstar Category, like spot bitcoin ETFs, had their highest month of outflows on record. ETF flows in this category typically fall in line with the performance of the assets they hold. For example, iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF IBIT, typically takes in money when bitcoin performs well, and vice versa. Bitcoin’s precipitous drop of 17% in November coincided with IBIT’s largest outflow of any month. Ethereum saw similar results and consequently iShares Ethereum Trust ETF ETHA saw its largest outflow of any month, too.
Investors Seek Out Leveraged-Equity ETFs
The trading-leveraged equity Morningstar Category landed near the top of all categories for net inflows, a sharp reversal from the past six months. These ETFs seek to amplify the short-term—usually daily—return of a stock index or a single stock. ProShares UltraPro QQQ TQQQ led this trend, pulling in over $2 billion.
TQQQ seeks to triple the daily performance of the Nasdaq-100 index, but resetting its leverage every day does not bode well for the ETF’s long-term return. TQQQ declined by 20% from the beginning of 2020 through 2022, despite QQQ’s positive 28% cumulative return.
Investors Turn Away From YieldMax ETFs
YieldMax ETFs experienced their worst month of outflows in November, losing almost $800 billion in capital. However, year-to-date flows remain strong. ETFs, like YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF ULTY, advertise tremendous income from their strategies. They do so by collecting premiums on options. However, the ETFs are constantly handing investors’ money back to them under the guise of income. Consequently, the net asset value of these ETFs is quickly deteriorating.
Check out October’s ETF flow trends.