November 2025 was another month with strong inflows for the European ETF industry.
These inflows occurred in a month marked by pivotal economic and geopolitical developments, with central banks opting for caution amid mixed global signals.
The Bank of England set the tone early in the month, voting narrowly to keep its benchmark rate at 4%. The 5–4 decision reflected growing pressure for cuts, but Governor Andrew Bailey emphasized prudence ahead of fiscal announcements. Similarly, the European Central Bank held rates steady, citing inflation stabilizing near its 2% target. ECB President Christine Lagarde signaled that the current pause remains appropriate given subdued growth and easing price pressures. In Asia, the Bank of Japan maintained its policy rate at 0.50%, following its July hike, and hinted that further adjustments would be considered only after December’s review.
Global growth forecasts offered a silver lining. S&P Global revised its 2025 outlook upward to 2.7%, buoyed by resilient U.S. manufacturing data and stronger-than-expected performance in China and Japan. Still, policymakers remained wary of geopolitical risks.
Equity markets reflected the uneasy climate with heightened volatility, as investors balanced cooling inflation against fragile global demand. Bond markets, meanwhile, saw yields edge lower across major economies, signaling expectations of eventual rate cuts and a flight to safety amid geopolitical tensions.
Contributing to the turbulence, the U.S. endured its longest-ever government shutdown which lasted 43 days, from October 1 to November 12, and delayed economic data releases and disrupted federal services, which weighed on both equity sentiment and bond yields.
On the diplomatic front, the Middle East saw tentative progress. A UN-brokered ceasefire in Gaza held through the month, while Houthi forces temporarily suspended attacks in the Red Sea, easing concerns over shipping routes. Meanwhile, Europe intensified efforts to revive peace talks in Ukraine, with proposals for security guarantees gaining traction.
Energy markets also drew attention as OPEC+ reaffirmed its commitment to production discipline during its late-November meeting, signaling stability in oil prices heading into 2026.
In sum, November underscored a global balancing act: central banks prioritizing stability, economies showing resilience, and geopolitical tensions offering glimpses of de-escalation. Whether this cautious optimism holds will depend on inflation trends, fiscal policies, and the durability of fragile ceasefires.
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 €2,529.0 bn as of October 31, 2025, to €2,545.0 bn at the end of November). At a closer look, the increase in assets under management of €15.7 bn for November was driven by estimated net inflows (+€21.4 bn), while the performance of the underlying markets (-€5.7 bn) had a negative impact on the 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 (€1,943.6 bn) held the majority of assets, followed by bond ETFs (€458.8 bn), money market ETFs (€74.4 bn), commodities ETFs (€54.0 bn), alternatives ETFs (€9.5 bn), and mixed-assets ETFs (€4.7 bn).
Given the current market environment, it is no surprise that the overall assets under management in the European ETF industry (€2,545.0 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 with the exception of alternatives and mixed-assets reached a new all-time high.
Graph 1: Market Share, Assets Under Management in the European ETF Segment by Asset Type, November 30, 2025
Source: LSEG Lipper
ETF Flows by Asset Type
Within the current market conditions, the European ETF industry enjoyed healthy estimated net inflows (+€21.4 bn) over the course of November. That said, these inflows were below the rolling 12-month average (€30.3 bn). These inflows drove the overall inflows in ETFs up to €303.5 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 November were once again driven by equity ETFs (+€14.1 bn), followed by bond ETFs (+€5.2 bn), money market ETFs (+€2.1 bn), mixed-assets ETFs (+€0.1 bn), and alternatives ETFs (+€0.03 bn). On the other side of the table, commodities ETFs (-€0.1 bn) were the only asset type with outflows for the month.
Graph 2: Estimated Net Sales by Asset Type, November 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 November 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 November 2025, the European ETF market was split into 181 different peer groups. The highest assets under management at the end of November were held by funds classified as Equity U.S. (€623.2 bn), followed by Equity Global (€472.9 bn), Equity Europe (€208.1 bn), Equity Emerging Markets Global (€120.6 bn), and Equity Sector Information Technology (€59.0 bn). These five peer groups accounted for 58.30% of the overall assets under management in the European ETF segment, while the 10-top classifications by assets under management accounted for 66.91%.
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 €1,876.0 bn, or 73.71%, of the overall assets under management.
Graph 3: Ten Largest Lipper Global Classifications by Assets Under Management, November 30, 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, November 30, 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
ETF Flows by Lipper Global Classifications
The net inflows of the 10 best-selling Lipper classifications accounted for €16.7 bn. In line with the overall sales trend for November, equity peer groups (+€11.6 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 Global (+€5.5 bn) was the best-selling Lipper global classification for November. It was followed by Equity Emerging Markets Global(+€2.9 bn) and Equity Europe (+€1.7 bn).
Generally speaking, it is surprising that Equity U.S. is on list of the 10 Lipper classifications with the highest outflows 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 November. Since money market products are in general not a core asset type within the European ETF industry, it is still somewhat surprising to see two money market classifications (Money Market EUR +€1.1 bn and Money Market USD +€0.9 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, November 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 November accounted for €3.5 bn in outflows. These outflows were slightly higher than the outflows for the 10 peer groups with the highest outflows for October 2025 (-€3.3 bn), but still in line compared to the outflows for other months.
Equity U.S. Small & Mid Cap (-€0.7 bn) was the classification with the highest outflows for the month. It was bettered by Bond GBP Government (-€0.5 bn), Equity Sector Information Technology (-€0.5 bn), Bond USD Government Short Term (-€0.3 bn), and Equity U.S. (-€0.4 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 69 ETF promoters in Europe holding assets at or above €1.0 bn, accounting for €2,537.5 bn. The largest ETF promoter in Europe—iShares (€1,068.6 bn)—accounted for 41.99% 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 (€325.8 bn)—and the number-three promoter—Xtrackers (€269.5 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, November 30, 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
The 10-top promoters accounted for 92.90% of the overall assets under management in the European ETF industry. This meant, in turn, the other 59 fund promoters registering at least one ETF for sale in Europe accounted for only 7.10% 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 seven of the 10 largest promoters by assets under management were among the 10-top selling ETF promoters for November. iShares was the best-selling ETF promoter in Europe for November (+€7.7 bn), ahead of Amundi ETF (+€4.7 bn) and Xtrackers (+€1.9 bn).
Graph 7: Ten Best-Selling ETF Promoters, November 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
The flows of the 10-top promoters accounted for estimated net inflows of €20.8 bn. As for the overall flow trend in November, it was clear that some of the 69 promoters (16) faced estimated net outflows (-€1.8 bn in total) over the course of the month.
Assets Under Management by ETFs
There were 4,559 instruments (primary share classes [2,265] and convenience share classes [2,294]) listed as ETFs in the Lipper database at the end of November. Regarding the overall market pattern, it was not surprising assets under management at the ETF level were also highly concentrated. Only 504 of the 2,265 ETFs (primary share classes = portfolios) held assets above €1.0 bn each. These ETFs accounted for €2,181.7 bn, or 85.72%, of the overall assets in the European ETF industry. The 10 largest ETFs in Europe accounted for €510.7 bn, or 20.07%, of the overall assets under management.
Graph 8: The 10 Largest ETFs by Assets Under Management, November 30, 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
Estimated Net Flows at ETF Level
A total of 1,170 of the 2,265 ETFs (primary share classes = portfolios) analyzed in this report showed net inflows of more than €10,000 each for November, accounting for inflows of €42.2 bn. This meant the other 1,095 instruments faced no flows, or net outflows, for the month. Upon closer inspection, only 113 of the 1,170 ETFs posting net inflows enjoyed inflows of more than €100 m during November—for a total of €26.3 bn. The best-selling ETF for November was iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF, which enjoyed estimated net inflows of €1.3 bn. It was followed by iShares Core € Corporate Bond UCITS ETF (+€0.8 bn) and Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (+€0.7 bn).
Graph 9: The 10 Best-Selling ETFs, November 2025 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
The flow pattern at the fund level indicated there was a lot of turnover and rotation during November, 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 €6.3 bn.
Given its size and the overall trend for net sales at the promoter level, it was somewhat surprising that only three of the 10 best-selling funds for November were promoted by iShares. These iShares ETFs accounted for estimated net inflows of €2.5 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.
