October 2025 was another month with strong inflows for the European ETF industry.
These inflows occurred in a month of cautious optimism for global markets. Investors were caught between shifting central bank tones, renewed geopolitical jitters, and a tentative rebound in risk appetite.
The U.S. Federal Reserve finally delivered what investors had priced in for weeks, a modest rate cut paired with dovish forward guidance, hinting at more to come. The underlying message that the tightening cycle is over rippled through bond markets and boosted equities. In contrast, the European Central Bank stood pat, opting for stability amid slowing growth and still-elevated inflation expectations. The policy divergence widened transatlantic yield spreads and pushed the euro modestly lower against the dollar.
Political turbulence once again gripped Europe. France’s third government reshuffle in less than a year rattled investors, lifting French bond spreads and denting confidence in the eurozone’s reform narrative. Meanwhile, renewed optimism over U.S.–China trade talks, coupled with easing sanctions rhetoric, injected a dose of relief into Asian equities. As a result, markets priced in a fragile sense of stability, dependent on political headlines.
After months of selling pressure, sovereign bonds staged a notable comeback. Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell back below 4.2%, while U.K. gilts and German Bunds saw similar declines of 25–30 basis points. The rally reflected not only cooling inflation data but also growing expectations of synchronized monetary easing in early 2026. Still, analysts warned that structural risks—such as high fiscal deficits, sticky service inflation, and geopolitical fragmentation—could easily cap further gains.
Stocks ended the month on a cautiously positive note. The Nasdaq led gains, fueled by strong earnings from AI-related tech giants and easing funding costs. European markets lagged, weighed down by political noise and sluggish manufacturing data. Sector rotation was evident—defensives and energy underperformed, while luxury and automotive names caught a bid from signs of Chinese consumer recovery.
October’s rebound hinted at resilience but also fragility. Investors are increasingly trading between two narratives—soft-landing optimism versus structural headwinds. With policy easing back on the table, increasing earnings pressure, and geopolitics refusing to fade, the search for stability might have just begun.
From a European ETF industry perspective, the performance of the underlying markets led, in combination with the estimated net flows, to increasing assets under management (from €2,412.8 bn as of September 30, 2025, to €2,529.0 bn at the end of October). At a closer look, the increase in assets under management of €116.5 bn for October was driven by the performance of the underlying markets (+€77.0 bn), while estimated net inflows added €39.6 bn to the increase in assets under management.
Assets Under Management by Asset Type
As for the overall structure of the European ETF industry, it was not surprising equity ETFs (€1,936.2 bn) held the majority of assets, followed by bond ETFs (€454.4 bn), money market ETFs (€72.1 bn), commodities ETFs (€51.8 bn), alternatives ETFs (€9.6 bn), and mixed-assets ETFs (€5.2 bn).
Given the current market environment, it is no surprise that the overall assets under management in the European ETF industry (€2,529.3 bn) hit a new all-time high at the end of the month. When it comes to this, it is noteworthy that the assets under management for all asset types reached a new all-time high.
Graph 1: Market Share, Assets Under Management in the European ETF Segment by Asset Type, October 31, 2025
Source: LSEG Lipper
ETF Flows by Asset Type
Within the current market conditions, the European ETF industry enjoyed strong estimated net inflows (+€39.6 bn) over the course of October. That said, these inflows were far above the rolling 12-month average (€30.9 bn). These inflows drove the overall inflows in ETFs up to €282.2 bn for the year 2025 so far.
This means the inflows into ETFs in Europe have already exceeded the record inflows of the year 2024 (€256.4 bn). If European ETFs can maintain their current level of inflows, the overall inflows for the year 2025 will reach a new all-time high, with estimated net inflows between €320.0 bn and €340.0 bn.
The inflows in the European ETF industry for October were once again driven by equity ETFs (+€24.3 bn), followed by bond ETFs (+€13.6 bn), money market ETFs (+€1.5 bn), mixed-assets ETFs (+€0.6 bn), and alternatives ETFs (+€0.02 bn). On the other side of the table, commodities ETFs (-€0.5 bn) were the only asset type with outflows for the month.
Graph 2: Estimated Net Sales by Asset Type, October 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
Given the current market environment, it was no surprise to see high inflows into ETFs led by equity products over the course of October 2025.
Assets Under Management by Lipper Global Classifications
In order to examine the European ETF markets in further detail, a review of the Lipper global classifications will lead to more insights on the structure and concentration of assets within the European ETF industry. At the end of October 2025, the European ETF market was split into 181 different peer groups. The highest assets under management at the end of October were held by funds classified as Equity U.S. (€626.2 bn), followed by Equity Global (€468.2 bn), Equity Europe (€208.0 bn), Equity Emerging Markets Global (€121.0 bn), and Equity Sector Information Technology (€63.0 bn). These five peer groups accounted for 58.77% of the overall assets under management in the European ETF segment, while the 10-top classifications by assets under management accounted for 67.30%.
Overall, 15 of the 181 peer groups each accounted for more than 1% of assets under management. In total, these 15 peer groups accounted for €1,871.1 bn, or 73.98%, of the overall assets under management.
Graph 3: Ten Largest Lipper Global Classifications by Assets Under Management, October 31, 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
In addition, it was noteworthy that the rankings of the largest classifications saw some movement in single positions over the last few years. As the positions of the classifications had been quite stable in the past, this indicates that European investors use ETFs to trade according to their market views. Even as some of these positions might be core holdings, once investors got into risk-off mode they also reduced their exposure to core asset classes.
Despite the fact that the rankings at the top of the league show some changes from time to time, these numbers show that the assets under management by Lipper global classifications continued to be highly concentrated in the European ETF industry.
The peer groups on the other side of the table showed some funds in the European ETF market are quite low in assets and their constituents may face the risk of being closed in the near future. They are obviously lacking investor interest and might, therefore, not be profitable for their respective fund promoters (Please read our report: “Will the ETFs in the Smallest Lipper Classifications in the European ETF Industry Survive?” for more details on this topic).
Graph 4: Ten Smallest Lipper Global Classifications by Assets Under Management, October 31, 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
ETF Flows by Lipper Global Classifications
The net inflows of the 10 best-selling Lipper classifications accounted for €26.7 bn. In line with the overall sales trend for October, equity peer groups (+€18.0 bn) dominated the flows by asset type on the table of the 10 best-selling peer groups by estimated net inflows. That said, it was not surprising to see three bond classifications on the table of the 10 best-selling classifications for the month, given the general market sentiment. Given the overall fund flow trend in the European ETF industry, it was not surprising that Equity U.S. (+€6.3 bn) was the best-selling Lipper global classification for October. It was followed by Bond Global Corporates EUR (+€4.8 bn) and Equity Global (+€4.2 bn).
Generally speaking, it is not surprising that Equity U.S. is in the top spot on the table of the 10 best-selling Lipper classifications given its status as core market and the strong recovery of the market after the turmoil in April 2025, as well as the good results reported during the last earnings season. Equity Europe was not on the table of the 10 best-selling classifications until the end of 2024. That said, the tide has changed ever since as there has been a trend toward investing in European equities established over the course of 2025 so far.
The flows into money market products in the European ETF industry have further normalized over the course of October. Since money market products are in general not a core asset type within the European ETF industry, it is still somewhat surprising to see a money market classifications (Money Market EUR +€1.1 bn) on the table of the 10 best-selling classifications in the European ETF industry.
Graph 5: Ten Best- and Worst-Lipper Global Classifications by Estimated Net Sales, October 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
More generally, these numbers showed the European ETF segment is also highly concentrated when it comes to fund flows by classification. Generally speaking, one would expect the flows into ETFs to be concentrated since investors often use ETFs to implement their market views and short-term asset allocation decisions. These products are made and, therefore, are easy to use for these purposes.
On the other side of the table, the 10 peer groups with the highest estimated net outflows for October accounted for €3.3 bn in outflows. These outflows were somewhat below the outflows for the 10 peer groups with the highest outflows for September 2025 (-€3.6 bn), but still in line compared to the outflows for other months.
Equity Germany Small & Mid Cap (-€0.7 bn) was the classification with the highest outflows for the month. It was bettered by Equity Sector Financials (-€0.5 bn), Bond Global High Yield USD (-€0.4 bn), Commodity Blended (-€0.4 bn), and Bond SEK (-€0.3 bn).
Assets Under Management by Promoters
A closer look at assets under management by promoters in the European ETF industry also showed high concentration, with only 33 of the 65 ETF promoters in Europe holding assets at or above €1.0 bn, accounting for €2,522.7 bn. The largest ETF promoter in Europe—iShares (€1,063.7 bn)—accounted for 42.06% of the overall assets under management and was the first ETF promoter who held more than EUR 1.0 tr in assets under management. This number is far ahead of the number-two promoter—Amundi ETF (€322.1 bn)—and the number-three promoter—Xtrackers (€268.6 bn). (To earn more about the concentration of the European ETF market at the promoter level, please read our report: Review of the concentration of the assets under management in the European ETF industry on promoter level).
Graph 6: The 10 Largest ETF Promoters by Assets Under Management, October 31, 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
The 10-top promoters accounted for 93.00% of the overall assets under management in the European ETF industry. This meant, in turn, the other 53 fund promoters registering at least one ETF for sale in Europe accounted for only 7.00% of the overall assets under management.
ETF Flows by Promoters
Since the European ETF market is highly concentrated when it comes to assets under management by promoter, it was not surprising that eight of the 10 largest promoters by assets under management were among the 10-top selling ETF promoters for October. iShares was the best-selling ETF promoter in Europe for October (+€11.9 bn), ahead of Amundi ETF (+€6.6 bn) and Invesco (+€3.8 bn).
Graph 7: Ten Best-Selling ETF Promoters, October 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
The flows of the 10-top promoters accounted for estimated net inflows of €35.8 bn. As for the overall flow trend in October, it was clear that some of the 65 promoters (14) faced estimated net outflows (-€1.2 bn in total) over the course of the month.
Assets Under Management by ETFs
There were 4,504 instruments (primary share classes [2,241] and convenience share classes [2,263]) listed as ETFs in the Lipper database at the end of October. Regarding the overall market pattern, it was not surprising assets under management at the ETF level were also highly concentrated. Only 498 of the 2,241 ETFs (primary share classes = portfolios) held assets above €1.0 bn each. These ETFs accounted for €2,169.0 bn, or 85.75%, of the overall assets in the European ETF industry. The 10 largest ETFs in Europe accounted for €511.6 bn, or 20.23%, of the overall assets under management.
Graph 8: The 10 Largest ETFs by Assets Under Management, October 31, 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
Estimated Net Flows at ETF Level
A total of 1,211 of the 2,241 ETFs (primary share classes = portfolios) analyzed in this report showed net inflows of more than €10,000 each for October, accounting for inflows of €61.2 bn. This meant the other 1,030 instruments faced no flows, or net outflows, for the month. Upon closer inspection, only 135 of the 1,211 ETFs posting net inflows enjoyed inflows of more than €100 m during October—for a total of €42.1 bn. The best-selling ETF for October was Amundi EUR Corporate Bond 1-5Y ESG UCITS ETF, which enjoyed estimated net inflows of €4.4 bn. It was followed by iShares MSCI USA ESG Enhanced CTB UCITS ETF USD (+€1.5 bn) and iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF (+€1.2 bn).
Graph 9: The 10 Best-Selling ETFs, October 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
The flow pattern at the fund level indicated there was a lot of turnover and rotation during October, but it also showed the concentration of the European ETF industry even better than the statistics at the promoter or classification levels since the 10 best-selling ETFs account for inflows of €13.9 bn.
Given its size and the overall trend for net sales at the promoter level, it was somewhat surprising that only four of the 10 best-selling funds for October were promoted by iShares. These iShares ETFs accounted for estimated net inflows of €4.5 bn.
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.
