Given the size of the overall market, it is not surprising that ETFs domiciled in the U.S. are dominating the league table of ETFs by assets under management. When it comes to the well-known investment behavior of U.S. investors, it is also not surprising that ETFs investing in U.S. equity markets are the largest ETFs by assets under management globally. Vanguard 500 Index Fund; ETF ($817.5 bn as of March 31, 2026) is the largest ETF in the world, followed by iShares Core S&P 500 ETF ($720.5 bn) and the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ($651.6 bn). With this in mind, one might be surprised to see that the Nomura NF TOPIX ETF ($190.7 bn), which is domiciled in Japan, is the seventh largest ETF in the world.
Overall, seven of the 10 largest ETFs globally are investing in plain vanilla U.S. equities, while two ETFs are investing globally and one in Japan.
Graph 1: The 20 Largest ETFs by Assets Under Management Globally – March 31, 2026 (in bn USD)
Source: LSEG Lipper
That said, it is also no surprise that the first 10 positions on the league table of the largest ETFs globally are taken by equity ETFs. Nevertheless, it is somewhat surprising that the eleventh largest ETF globally is an ETF – SPDR Gold Shares ($155.1 bn) – which is investing in commodities.
Given the importance and size of the bond markets, it is surprising that the largest bond ETF – Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund; ETF ($151.6 bn) – globally is “only” the twelfth largest ETF on the table.
The largest ETF in Europe – iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF ($129.7 bn) – is the sixteenth largest ETF globally.
The U.S.-domiciled iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF ($53.1 bn) is the largest cryptocurrency ETF in the world. Nevertheless, the ETF is “only” number 50 on the league table of the largest ETFs in the world. At the same time, it is the largest alternatives ETF globally.
That said, iShares $ Treasury Bond 0-1 Years UCITS ETF ($25.0 bn), is the largest bond ETF in Europe and number 114 on the league table of the largest ETFs globally. At the same time, the largest money market ETF in Europe – Xtrackers II EUR Overnight Rate Swap UCITS ETF ($24.7 bn) – is also the largest money market ETF globally. Given the fact that money market is not considered as a core asset type for ETFs, it is not surprising that the Xtrackers ETF is only number 118 on the table of the largest ETFs globally.
Mixed assets are so far also not considered a core asset type for ETFs globally. With regard to this, it is not surprising that largest mixed-assets ETF in the world, the Canada-domiciled Vanguard Growth ETF Portfolio ($6.5 bn) is number 472 on the league table of the largest ETFs globally.
This comparison shows that the assets under management in the ETF industry globally are highly concentrated, as a limited number of ETFs account for the largest market share in their respective markets. This concentration somewhat reflects the preferences of the local investors. This means we may not see any change to the respective positioning of these ETFs soon.
Nevertheless, it will be exciting to see when the first single ETF will hit the $1.0 trn milestone, as I am pretty sure that this event will raise questions about if and when a single ETF becomes too large or a systemic risk.
All data as March 31, 2026 – Source: LSEG Lipper
The views expressed are the views of the author, not necessarily those of LSEG.
This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice.
