Among a group of standout winners from Europe’s booming ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) market last year, were UBS Asset Management and VanEck, with the duo more than doubling net inflows.
An ETF, a type of investment fund that holds a collection of assets, such as stocks or bonds , is traded on a stock exchange like individual stocks. They offer flexibility because they can be bought and sold throughout the trading day at market prices, unlike traditional mutual funds which are priced only once a day.
JPMorgan’s fund management division has dominated the active ETF industry (where a manager actively makes a decision about buying and selling assets), managing $37.8bn according to ETFGI (an electronic funds transfer).
In the US, ETFs have pulled in record flows, where they have specific tax advantages over traditional mutual funds. Active ETFs pulled in $215 bn during the first half of last year –up from $132.5bn a year earlier.
According to data provided by ETFGI, UBS Asset Management last year gathered $20.3bn across its ETF arm, which is Europe’s fifth largest provider of the products. The figure was more than double the $9.8bn it pulled in during the whole of 2024.
Head of ETF and index fund client coverage at UBS Asset Management, Amanda Rebello said the haul came after it established a new ETF range during the first half of last year that saw “strong flows”.
“These updated price points opened a wide range of target clients, who additionally then saw the potential of our other suites within our ETF range, including our currency-hedged exposures, our thematic funds, and our newly launched active collateralised loan obligation ETF.” she said.
US-headquartered VanEck, which sits just outside Europe’s top 10 largest ETF funds in 12th position, gathered $10bn of net ETF inflows last year. This was up from the $4.2bn it collected during 2024. Other firms experienced a turnaround in fortunes in 2025 and reversed heavy outflows from the previous year.
Legal & General’s ETF business, which saw investors pull a net $3.6bn in 2024 – the largest redemptions of any European provider – ended 2025 with $3.9bn of new money. The inflows came after Eric Adler, chief executive of L&G’s asset management arm said last year that the UK’s largest asset manager planned to “double down” on its European ETF business.
Last year, L&G merged its ETF and index businesses, a move which prompted a handful of departures. Elsewhere, Pimco’s ETFs pulled in $2.3bn last year, a turnaround from the $745m of net outflows recorded during the previous year. WisdomTree, meanwhile, pulled in $6.8bn of net inflows last year, marking a turnaround from the $1.7bn its ETFs bled in 2024.
Head of distribution in Europe for WisdomTree, Adria Beso, said ETFs focused on European defence, crypto and hedged precious metals were among those that “attracted significant interest” in 2025.
“That momentum has continued into early 2026, with sustained investor interest in our European defence and rare earths miners ETFs,” said Beso.
ETF assets break new record: Overall, ETF assets in Europe stood at $3.2tn at the end of 2025, an almost 42 per cent year-on-year increase. Blackrock’s iShares division, which is Europe’s largest ETF provider, trounced its rivals in terms of new business won. It pulled in $136.4bn last year, up from around $90bn in 2024.
“Structural, demographic and market forces signal a pivotal moment for the European ETF landscape,” said Deborah Fuhr, founder of ETFGI.
“The industry is not simply growing – it is redefining how Europe invests, with ETFs at the centre of a long-term transformation in portfolio design, wealth management and capital markets access.” (The writer is our foreign correspondent based in the UK) andyjalil@aol.com
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