2025’s Biggest funds: the winners & losers
Australia’s ETF market continued to expand through 2025, with large core index funds maintaining dominance while a handful of specialised products experienced significant inflows and outflows.
The most popular ETFs aren’t always the best performing ETFs. They’re just the ones that investors are choosing based on their own assessment, market commentary, or trends.
In this article we compare the largest ETFs based on FUM and compare the ETFs that attracted the greatest inflows and outflows between 31 December 2024 and 31 December 2025.
Most popular ETFs by funds under management (FUM) growth
The Australian ETF market remains heavily concentrated in a handful of broad, low-cost index funds.
As of Q4 2025, the five largest ETFs by funds under management (FUM) were:
These funds reflect the core building blocks used by many Australian investors:
- VAS remains the largest ETF in Australia, offering exposure to the ASX 300.
- VGS provides broad global equity exposure excluding Australia.
- IVV tracks the S&P 500 and continues to attract investors seeking US market exposure.
- A200 competes directly with VAS as a low-cost Australian equity ETF.
- QUAL offers global quality-factor exposure.
Together these funds represent a large portion of the Australian ETF market’s total assets.
ETFs with the strongest growth
While the largest ETFs dominate in size, several funds experienced particularly strong growth between 31 December 2024 and 31 December 2025.
The biggest increases in FUM over the period were:
| ETF Ticker Code | Fum change 31 December 2024 – 31 December 2025 ($m) |
| A200 | + $4,731 |
| VGAD | + $3,816 |
| GOLD | + $2,567 |
| VAS | + $2,189 |
| VGS | + $2,603 |
Key trends driving inflows
Australian equities remain popular
Both VAS and A200 saw strong inflows, reinforcing the continued demand for low-cost exposure to the domestic share market.
Global equities continue to attract capital
The growth of VGS highlights ongoing investor demand for diversified international equity exposure.
Hedged global equities gained traction
The strong growth in VGAD suggests investors increasingly value currency-hedged global equity exposure, particularly amid currency volatility.
Gold gained defensive interest
The growth in GOLD indicates rising interest in gold as a portfolio diversifier and inflation hedge.
ETFs experiencing the largest outflows
Not every ETF benefited from investor inflows. Several products saw significant declines in FUM over the period.
The ETFs with the largest reductions in funds were:
| ETF Ticker Code | Fum change 31 December 2024 – 31 December 2025 ($m) |
| FRGG | ($2,008) |
| PIXX | ($316) |
| XALG | ($142) |
| GBND | ($142) |
| MGOC | ($131) |
Possible drivers of outflows
While individual reasons vary by product, a few broader trends may explain the declines:
- Investor consolidation into larger core ETFs
- Reduced demand for niche thematic strategies
- Rotation between defensive and growth exposures
In many cases, capital appears to be shifting toward larger, simpler index ETFs.
What does this mean for investor behaviour in 2026?
The data suggests three clear trends shaping Australia’s ETF market:
1. Core index ETFs continue to dominate
The largest funds, particularly those tracking the ASX and global equities, continue to attract the bulk of investor capital.
2. Cost and simplicity remain key
Low-cost ETFs like A200, VAS and VGS continue to see strong demand.
3. Investors are increasingly diversifying globally
Global ETFs such as VGS, VGAD and IVV remain central to many portfolios.
The outlook for Australian ETFs
With assets continuing to concentrate in large core funds, Australia’s ETF market appears to be maturing.
However, new product innovation, particularly in factor investing, thematic exposures and alternatives, may continue to create opportunities for smaller ETFs to gain traction.
For most investors, though, the data reinforces a simple message: broad, low-cost index ETFs remain the backbone of ETF portfolios in Australia.
