U.S. ETF assets under management hit another record at $13.2 trillion in November, driven by monthly inflows of $147.7 billion and bringing the year-to-date total flows to $1.26 trillion. November also saw the introduction of 118 new ETFs.
U.S. listed ETF flows (in millions) as of November 30, 2025
ETF inflows for November totaled $147.7 billion, a decrease of 13% from the prior month.
Equity accounted for 70% of total flows, rising 2% to $103.2 billion from $101.4 billion in October.
Fixed income inflows declined 15.6% to $43.7 billion from $51.8 billion in October.
Currency pivoted to $3.45 billion of outflows, compared to positive flows of $6.9 billion in October.
Asset allocation inflows dropped 58% to $676 million from $1.6 billion.
Commodities inflows slowed, decreasing 66% to $2 billion from $5.9 billion.
Alternatives inflows decreased 19% to $1.5 billion from $1.9 billion.
In response to growing investor interest and effective December 1, FactSet created a new category within the alternatives asset class called “structured outcome”. As a result, funds meeting the characteristics have been reclassified from equity (primarily) to alternatives. This monthly ETF report, as well as all future reports, will reflect this adjustment.
Technology, Health Care, and Energy attracted the greatest inflows in November. The Financials, Consumer Discretionary, and Consumer Staples sectors experienced the most outflows.
November saw the introduction of 118 ETFs, bringing the 2025 total to 1,036. Although the number of launches declined 14% from October, November was still strong compared the same month last year, when only 46 ETFs launched.
Equities made up the majority of launches, with 72 funds or 61% of November launches.
Fixed income added 23 new funds, representing 19.5% of launches.
Currency introduced 15 new funds, near double the previous month. Consistent with trends over the past year, most new currency funds provide exposure to cryptocurrency.
Alternative ETFs saw 6 new funds, a decrease of 73% from October's 22 structured outcome ETFs.
Of the November launches, 93 (or 79%) were actively managed, including 15 mutual fund conversions.
Among the launch highlights:
Hedgeye Fourth Turning ETF (HEFT) employs a long/short strategy informed by the Fourth Turning generational theory, which anticipates a new era of social, political, and economic upheaval with unique risks and opportunities.
Wayfinder Dynamic US Interest Rate ETF (CMBO) is actively managed and uses options box spreads to match or exceed the price and yield performance of the rolling 0–12-month segment of the U.S. Treasury Bill market.
Simplify Currency Strategy ETF (FOXY) is the only traditional currency fund launched in November. The actively managed ETF uses long and short exposure, employing a mean-reversion strategy for G10 currencies and a carry strategy for emerging market currencies.
Structured outcome funds—also known as buffer, defined outcome, or managed outcome funds—have been growing. These funds use derivatives positioned to pursue a predetermined range of returns. Some of the key characteristics include the underlying security or asset, investment objective or strategy being pursued, outcome period, and exposure reset.
These funds may focus on downside hedge (providing a buffer against losses in exchange for a cap on potential gains), enhanced growth (designing a payoff structure to realize accelerated returns up to a certain cap), and enhanced income (often through strategies such as active stock selection combined with an index covered call strategy).
As of November, FactSet counted 468 Structured Outcome ETFs trading on U.S. exchanges. During the month, $1 billion flowed into these buffer funds, bringing total assets under management to $86.75 billion. In 2025, a total of 113 ETFs were launched, accounting for 24% of total funds in this category.
Most of these funds offer exposure to major equity indices, with the S&P 500 (343 funds), NASDAQ-100 (40), and Russell 2000 (25) being the most popular. More recently, issuers have expanded offerings to include gold, Bitcoin, and Treasury bonds.
Structured outcome funds are complex investments. In exchange for downside protection, investors forego gains above the cap. If losses exceed the buffer, investors are exposed to further downside risk. In addition, investors typically need to hold the fund for the entire outcome period to achieve intended results, as returns can differ if shares are purchased outside of the reset date. While these funds offer some protection, there is still no guarantee against potential losses.
This blog post is for informational purposes only. The information contained in this blog post is not legal, tax, or investment advice. FactSet does not endorse or recommend any investments and assumes no liability for any consequence relating directly or indirectly to any action or inaction taken based on the information contained in this article.