Whatever the turbulent markets might suggest, the inflow to the exchange-trade funds industry in the first four months of the shows no abatement in appetite for them.

Inflows into the world’s exchange-traded funds industry hit a record for the first four months in 2025, at $620.5 billion, industry figures show, suggesting that volatile financial markets haven’t blunted appetite for market exposure.

Equity, bond and commodity ETFs took in inflows, according to ETFGI, a firm that tracks the sector, said in a report today. 

The four-month inflow beat the second-highest inflow of $467.69 billion in 2024 and the third highest year-to-date inflow was $464.20 billion in 2021.

A total of $15.44 trillion was invested in the ETFs industry globally at the end of April, below the record high assets of $15.50 trillion at the end of February 2025.

While the US equity market has been in the red since the start of the year, other markets, such as in Europe and the emerging market space, have gained ground.

During April 2025, equity ETFs gathered net inflows of $85.85 billion, bringing YTD net inflows to $297.44 billion, above the $263.08 billion in net inflows YTD in 2024. Fixed income ETFs reported net inflows of $16.22 billion during April, bringing YTD net inflows to $98.19 billion, higher than the $80.34 billion a year ago. Commodities ETFs reported net inflows of $10.50 billion, taking YTD net inflows to $32.41 billion, much higher than the outflows for the same four-month period a year earlier.