MutualFundWire.com: Fundsters Had a $4.889T Year
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Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Fundsters Had a $4.889T Year


Fundsters saw their collective AUM rise by nearly $5 trillion last year, thanks in part to rising inflows, and the industry's giants accounted for almost all of that growth, according to the latest data from the folks at a publicly traded investment research firm.

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on December 2025 mutual fund and ETF flows, excluding money-market funds and funds-of-funds. (Other asset management products, like collective trusts and separate accounts, are also not included*.) More specifically, this article focuses on the 74 firms (down by one month-over-month from November 2025, roughly unchanged quarter-over-quarter from September 2025, and up by two year-over-year from December 2024) with at least 100 long-term mutual funds or ETFs each.

BlackRock (including iShares) led the inflows pack yet again last year, thanks to an estimated $365.617 billion in net 2025 inflows, up by $81.142 billion Y/Y from 2024. Other big 2025 inflows winners included:
  • Vanguard, $239.837 billion (up by $17.842 billion Y/Y);
  • State Street's SSIM, $85.398 billion (up by $8.101 billion Y/Y);
  • J.P. Morgan (including Six Circles), $82.499 billion (up by $10.633 billion Y/Y); and
  • Fidelity, $64.102 billion (down by $41.461 billion Y/Y).

    • BlackRock also led the inflows pack for a seventh consecutive quarter, thanks to an estimated $146.096 billion in inflows in the fourth quarter of 2025. Other big Q4 2025 inflows winners included: Vanguard, $105.053 billion; and SSIM, $46.874 billion.

    And BlackRock also led the inflows pack for an eighth month running, thanks to an estimated $72.211 billion in net December 2025 inflows. Other big inflows winners last month included: Vanguard, $37.419 billion; and SSIM, $21.428 billion.

    On the flip side, 2025 was another rough year for Capital Group (home of American Funds), which led the outflows pack for a second year in a row, thanks to an esetimated $74.771 billion in net 2025 outflows, up by $19.656 billion Y/Y from 2024. Other big 2025 outflows sufferers included:
  • T. Rowe Price, $62.875 billion (up by $18.051 billion Y/Y);
  • Jackson, $23.774 billion (up by $384 million Y/Y);
  • Sun Life's MFS, $21.857 billion (up by $7.794 billion Y/Y); and
  • Franklin Templeton, $17.961 billion (down by $30.875 billion Y/Y).

    • Cap Group also took the outflows lead last quarter, thanks to an estimated $25.833 billion in net Q4 2025 outflows. Other big outflows sufferers included: T. Rowe, $19.305 billion; and Jackson, $6.894 billion.

    And Cap Group also took the outflows lead last month, thanks to an estimated $15.924 billion in net December 2025 outflows. Other big outflows sufferers included: T. Rowe, $8.022 billion; and TIAA's Nuveen, $2.971 billion.

    As of December 31, 2025, large fund firms held $33.297 trillion in AUM, accounting for 94 percent overall industry long-term AUM and up by $114 billion M/M, by $948 billion Q/Q, and by $4.876 trillion Y/Y. Those firms ended last year with a combined 35,891 long-term mutual funds and ETFs, accounting for 82.6 percent of the whole industry's funds and down by 198 M/M and by 286 Q/Q, but up by 163 Y/Y.

    As a group, large fund firms brought in $748.879 billion in net 2025 inflows (accounting for 97 percent of all industry long-term inflows). That's up by $92.5 billion Y/Y.

    Large fund firms brought in a combined $327.967 billion in Q4 2025 inflows, and $153.129 billion in December 2025 alone. In both periods, large firms accounted for more than 100 percent of all industry long-term inflows.

    The whole industry of 772 firms tracked by the M* team (up by 2 M/M and Q/Q, but down by 34 Y/Y) ended last year with $35.436 trillion in AUM, down by $33 billion M/M but up by $744 billion Q/Q and up by $4.889 trillion Y/Y. The industry had 43,499 ETFs and long-term mutual funds at the end of December 2025, down by 252 M/M and by 3,179 Q/Q, but up by 107 Y/Y.

    Across the whole industry, fund firms brought in $771.981 billion in 2025 inflows. That's up by $48.551 billion Y/Y.

    In Q4 2025, the industry brought in $323.399 billion in net inflows. In December 2025 alone, the industry brought in $149.233 billion.

    *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 institutional separate accounts are commonly used alternatives to traditional mutual funds.


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