U.S. ETF assets under management increased to $12.7 trillion in September from $12.3 trillion in August. September recorded inflows of $141.2 billion, the highest for the year and up 19.8% from $117.8 billion the prior month, taking the year-to-date total to $925.4 billion. September saw 115 new ETFs launched.
U.S. listed ETF flows (in millions) as of September 30, 2025
ETF inflows for September totaled $141.2 billion, an increase of 19.8% from the prior month.
Equity funds accounted for 62% of total flows, reaching a year-to-date high of $88 billion in September.
Fixed income inflows declined 26% to $35 billion in September from $48.4 billion in August.
Flows for commodities funds more than doubled to $11.3 billion from $5 billion in August. Notably, gold ETFs gained $10.2 billion in September.
On the sector front, Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary, and Communication Services registered the most inflows in September. Meanwhile Energy, Utilities, and Health Care had outflows.
September saw 115 ETF launches, the highest yet for a single month in 2025 and up 55% from August, bringing the year-to-date total to 781.
Equity exposure again made up most of U.S. launches with 87 new funds (76%).
Fixed income funds followed with 16 launches (14%), down from 22 funds in August.
Currency had 7 launches in September from zero the prior month. All 7 provide exposure to cryptocurrency.
Actively managed funds (94) comprised a majority of the launches at 82%, reinforcing the shift in ETF management style.
Among the launch highlights:
Defiance Nasdaq 100 LightningSpread Income ETF (QLDY) seeks to pay income twice weekly by writing long-dated call options on the Nasdaq 100 and employing 0DTE put spreads.
Golden Eagle Dynamic Hypergrowth ETF (HYP) focuses on U.S. companies experiencing exceptionally high sales growth or showing signs of entering a hypergrowth phase.
REX-Osprey ETH + Staking ETF (ESK) provides exposure to spot Ether while seeking monthly distributions through staking, which is the practice of locking digital tokens to a blockchain network to earn rewards.
Defiance Trillion Dollar Club Index ETF (TRIL) is the first fund to provide exposure to a narrow group of companies and crypto assets with a market cap over $1 trillion.
MUFG Japan Small Cap Active ETF (MJSC) invests in small-cap Japanese companies, seeking to capitalize on Japan's under-researched small-cap market.
The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) for the Aerospace & Defense sector includes companies engaged in the manufacturing of civil or military aerospace and defense equipment, components, and products, including defense electronics and space systems.
Recent ETF launches anticipate continued investor interest in the Aerospace & Defense sector:
Compared to the launch of only 2 Aerospace & Defense ETFs in 2024, 2025 saw a significant increase with the introduction of 17 new ETFs.
Of the 17, 7 ETFs debuted in September 2025, including three single-stock ETFs (AXUP, KTUP, and VOYX).
ETF inflows for the Aerospace & Defense sector exhibited substantial growth in 2025 so far:
By the end of the third quarter, total ETF flows for 2025 totaled $8.23 billion, a 573% increase from $1.2 billion in 2024.
Monthly flows peaked at $1.6 billion in June.
September flows landed more modestly at $634 million.
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.