The Gotham Giant took back the passive inflows lead last month as overall passive inflows rebounded by 66.9 percent, according to the latest data from the folks at a publicly traded investment research company.

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on May 2025 open-end mutual fund and ETF flows, excluding money-market funds and funds of funds. (The data also excludes other asset management products, like CITs and separate accounts.*) More specifically, this article focuses on the 148 firms (down by four month-over-month from April 2025 and down by three year-over-year from May 2024) that offer passively managed, long-term mutual funds or ETFs.

BlackRock (including iShares) pulled ahead again last month, thanks to an estimated $18.925 billion in net May 2025 passive inflows, up by $28.214 billion M/M from April 2025 but down by $1.438 billion Y/Y from May 2024. Other big May 2025 passive inflows winners included:

Vanguard, $17.166 billion (down by $17.584 billion M/M, down by $3.316 billion Y/Y);

Invesco, $13.569 billion M/M (up by $16.712 billion M/M, up by $5.204 billion Y/Y);

Fidelity, $9.552 billion (up by $10.074 billion M/M, up by $233 million Y/Y); and

Schwab, $1.389 billion (down by $11.381 billion M/M, down by $2.093 billion Y/Y).

On the flip side, State Street's SSGA took the outflows lead last month, thanks to an estimated $2.289 billion in net May 2025 passive outflows, a $6.928-billion net flows drop M/M from April 2025 and a $14.942-billion net flows drop Y/Y from May 2024. Other big May 2025 passive outflows sufferers included:

TIAA's Nuveen, $1.172 billion (down by $351 million M/M, up by $925 million Y/Y);

ProShares and ProFunds, $1.05 billion (a $3.952-billion net flows drop M/M, a $1.299-billion net flows drop Y/Y);

Pacer, $572 million (down by $1.195 billion M/M, a $1.038-billion net flows drop Y/Y); and

T. Rowe Price, $423 million (down by $73 million M/M, a $467-million net flows drop Y/Y).

Overall, passive funds brought in a combined $60.206 billion in net flows in May 2025, up by $24.139 billion M/M but down by $13.585 billion Y/Y. 51.4 percent (76 of 148) passive fund families brought in net passive inflows in May 2025, compared with 46.1 percent in April 2025 and 51 percent in May 2024.

*This caveat is particularly important for large fund firms, many of which are big players in the 401(k) business, where collective investment trusts (CITs) and separately managed accounts (SMAs) are commonly used alternatives to traditional mutual funds. 

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