Most Popular ETFs Used by Traders and Investors in 2024
Investors poured $1.1 trillion into U.S. ETFs in 2024, a record year.
As usual, the largest S&P 500 ETFs saw the most inflows, while the iShares spot Bitcoin ETF attracted $37.2 billion, ranking third. Investor optimism about Big Tech, the U.S. economy, and Trump’s election victory largely drove inflows during the year, as a number of asset classes achieved double-digit returns.
US equity funds dominate ETF inflows
As the table below shows, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF saw the biggest inflows, surpassing its previous record by a whopping $65 billion:
| Numbering | Name | Description | Cash flows in 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | US Stocks (S&P 500) | $116.1 billion |
| 2 | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | US Stocks (S&P 500) | $86.8 billion |
| 3 | iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF | Digital Assets (Spot Bitcoin) | $37.2 billion |
| 4 | Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF | US Stocks (Small, Mid, Large Cap) | $29.2 billion |
| 5 | Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 | US Stocks (Nasdaq 100) | 29 billion dollars |
| 6 | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | US Stocks (S&P 500) | 22.5 billion dollars |
| 7 | iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF | US Bonds (Government, Corporate and MBS) | 21 billion dollars |
| 8 | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Portfolio | US Stocks (S&P 500) | $20.1 billion |
| 9 | Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund ETF | US Bonds (Publicly Available Government, Corporate and MBS) | 19 billion dollars |
| 10 | Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF | US Stocks (S&P 500 Equal Weight) | $17.1 billion |
Next in line was the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, which sent BlackRock shares to all-time highs in 2024.
Since being approved by the regulator earlier this year, the iShares spot Bitcoin ETF has broken numerous records. Despite investors pulling out significant funds from the ETF in December due to a decline in demand from institutional investors, it has maintained its place in the top three.
In fifth place was the Invesco QQQ ETF, which saw a threefold increase in fund flows from 2023. The ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, has $325 billion in assets under management, nearly half of the company's total U.S.-listed ETF assets under management.
Meanwhile, Invesco's Equal-Weight S&P 500 ETF was among the top 10 ETFs, reflecting demand from more cautious investors in a market heavily weighted toward large-cap companies. Overall, five of the top ETFs tracked the S&P 500 as the index rose 23.3%.
As we can see, most of the ETFs that received the most inflows were equity ETFs, but up until November, bond ETFs were growing at a faster pace as investors sought to lock in higher yields before interest rates fell. However, in November, net ETF inflows jumped to a monthly record of $164 billion, largely concentrated in equity and bitcoin ETFs following Trump’s election victory.