Even as the inflows into ETFs in Europe were way below the inflows for January and February, March 2026 could be considered another month with strong inflows for the European ETF industry. This is because ETFs showed once again inflows in a market environment in which mutual funds faced outflows.
Generally speaking, financial markets in March 2026 were shaped primarily by the interaction of geopolitical escalation in the Middle East, an associated energy price shock, and a coordinated pause in monetary policy across major central banks. These factors drove a marked shift in investor expectations for inflation, growth, and interest rates.
The dominant macro driver was the intensification of the US–Iran conflict, which disrupted energy infrastructure and pushed oil prices above USD 100 per barrel during the month. This triggered a reassessment of global inflation risks and raised concerns about a stagflationary environment—higher prices combined with weakening economic activity. Central banks explicitly acknowledged this uncertainty, with policymakers highlighting that the conflict created upside risks to inflation and downside risks to growth.
Against this backdrop, March became a rare instance of synchronized central bank decisions. The Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, and Bank of England all kept policy rates unchanged.
Market expectations shifted significantly during the month. Prior assumptions of a continued easing cycle were replaced by expectations that rate cuts would be delayed or even reversed, particularly in Europe and the UK. The energy shock forced investors to reconsider inflation trajectories, with markets increasingly pricing in the possibility of additional tightening later in 2026.
This repricing had immediate effects across asset classes. Equity markets weakened, particularly in Europe, as higher input costs and geopolitical risks weighed on corporate earnings expectations. At the same time, bond markets experienced heightened volatility, reflecting conflicting forces: weaker growth prospects supported government bonds, while rising inflation expectations and fiscal uncertainty pushed yields higher at various points during the month.
Investor sentiment over March can be characterized as cautious and reactive. Markets oscillated between concerns about persistent inflation—driven by energy prices—and fears of slowing growth. The result was a decline in conviction around the monetary policy outlook and increased sensitivity to geopolitical developments.
Overall, March 2026 marked a turning point in market narratives. The combination of geopolitical shocks and central bank caution interrupted the prior disinflation-driven optimism and reintroduced uncertainty over the path of both inflation and interest rates, shaping global securities markets throughout the month.
From a European ETF industry perspective, the performance of the underlying markets led, in combination with the estimated net flows, to decreasing assets under management (from €2,781.7 bn as of February 28, 2026, to €2,657.0 bn at the end of March). At a closer look, the decrease in assets under management of €124.7 bn for March was driven by the performance of the underlying markets (+€135.2 bn), while estimated net inflows added (+€10.5 bn) to the increase in assets under management.
Assets Under Management in the European ETF Industry
As for the overall structure of the European ETF industry, it was not surprising equity ETFs (€2,022.1 bn) held the majority of assets, followed by bond ETFs (€507.0 bn), commodities ETFs (€64.7 bn), money market ETFs (€49.4 bn), alternatives ETFs (€9.0 bn), and mixed-assets ETFs (€5.0 bn).
Given negative market environment over the course of the month, it is no surprise that the former records for the overall assets under management in the European ETF industry as well as for the single asset types were not broken at the end of the month. This means the negative market environment over the course of the month ended the series of new month end all-time highs in assets under management.
Graph 1: Market Share, Assets Under Management in the European ETF Segment by Asset Type, March 31, 2026
Source: LSEG Lipper
ETF Flows by Asset Type
The inflows into the European ETF industry over the course of March (+€10.5 bn) were way below the inflows for January and February, as well as the rolling 12-month average. Nevertheless, these inflows showcase how resilient the fund flows into ETFs in Europe are, especially if one takes into account that mutual funds in Europe witnessed overall outflows for the month.
In addition to this, it is noteworthy that the general fund flow trend for the year is still set to reach a new all-time high on an annual basis at the end of the year. This showcases that the popularity of ETFs among European investors is still growing despite the already in general higher inflows over the course of the years 2024 and 2025.
The inflows in the European ETF industry for March were driven by equity ETFs (+€8.81 bn), followed by money market ETFs (+€3.8 bn), commodities ETFs (+€0.9 bn), and alternatives ETFs (+€0.02 bn). On the other side of the table, mixed-assets ETFs (-€0.004 bn) and Bond ETFs (+€3.0 bn) faced outflows.
Graph 2: Estimated Net Sales by Asset Type, March 1 – March 31, 2026 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
Given the general market environment, it was surprising to see that the estimated net inflows into ETFs were led by equity ETFs over the course of the month. The high inflows into money market products might be a flight to safe havens by bond investors given relative similar numbers of in- and outflows.
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 March, the European ETF market was split into 186 different peer groups. The highest assets under management at the end of March were held by ETFs classified as Equity U.S. (€603.7 bn), followed by Equity Global (€494.8 bn), Equity Europe (€211.6 bn), Equity Emerging Markets Global (€140.0 bn), and Bond EUR Corporates (€58.5 bn). These five peer groups accounted for €1,518.6 bn, or 57.15%, of the overall assets under management in the European ETF segment, while the 10-top classifications by assets under management accounted for 66.30%.
Overall, 17 of the 186 Lipper classifications each accounted for more than 1% of assets under management. In total, these 17 classifications accounted for €2,000.0 bn, or 75.27%, of the overall assets under management. (Please read the article: Review of the Market Concentration of Assets Under Management in the European ETF Industry at the Classification Level for information on this topic)
Graph 3: Ten Largest Lipper Global Classifications by Assets Under Management, March 31, 2026 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
In addition, it was noteworthy that Bond EUR Corporates had moved up on the list of the five largest Lipper classifications in January, while Equity Sector Information Technology fell from the fifth to the sixth spot. This may be a sign of a change in risk appetite of European investors. Since the assets under management held by ETFs in Equity Sector Information Technology fell even further over the course of February, this might be a space to watch in the future, even as the sector gained back the sixth position over the course of March.
More generally, 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 classifications 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, March 31, 2026 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
ETF Flows by Lipper Global Classifications
The net inflows of the 10 best-selling Lipper classifications accounted for €19.0 bn. In line with the overall sales trend for March, equity peer groups (+€14.1 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 the two leading money market classifications on the table of the 10 best-selling classifications for the month, taking the general market sentiment into account. Given the overall fund flow trend in the European ETF industry, it was somewhat surprising that Equity Global (+€6.4 bn) was the best-selling Lipper global classification for March. It was followed by Money Market EUR (+€2.7 bn), Equity Europe (+€2.1 bn), Equity Sector Energy (+€1.6 bn), and Equity Switzerland (+€1.4 bn).
Generally speaking, it is not surprising that Equity Europe is in one of the top spots on the table of the 10 best-selling Lipper classifications given the overall market trend of increasing flows into ETFs investing in Europe and the good performance of European equities compared to their U.S. peers. In addition to this, it is also not surprising to see Equity Sector Industrials on the list of the 10 best-selling classifications for March, since the classification profited from the strong inflows into defense-related ETFs and the overall sector rotation toward classic value sectors. Conversely, it was surprising to see Equity U.S. on the second half of the table, since this classification is normally one of European investors’ favorites.
The general trend of inflows into money market products continued over the course of the month. Nevertheless, money market is in general not considered as a core asset type within the European ETF industry. However, taking the market environment and the overall fund flow trends into account, it was not surprising to see Money Market EUR (+€2.7 bn) and Money Market USD (+€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, March 1 – March 31, 2026 (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 Lipper 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 classifications with the highest estimated net outflows for March accounted for €12.3 bn in outflows. With regard to the overall market environment, it was not surprising that the outflows for March were way above the outflows for February (-€2.8 bn).
Equity Sector Financials (-€3.8 bn) was the classification with the highest outflows for the month. It was bettered by Bond EUR High Yield (-€1.7 bn), Bond EUR Corporates (-€1.5 bn), Equity Germany Small & Mid Cap (-€0.9 bn), and Equity Sector Gold & Precious Metals (-€0.8 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 35 of the 73 ETF promoters in Europe holding assets at or above €1.0 bn, accounting for €2,650.4 bn. The largest ETF promoter in Europe—iShares (€1,098.8 bn)—accounted for 41.35% of the overall assets under management. This number is far ahead of the number-two promoter—Amundi ETF (€342.9 bn)—and the number-three promoter—Xtrackers (€273.5 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, March 31, 2026 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
The 10-top promoters accounted for (€2,447.4 bn) 92.11% of the overall assets under management in the European ETF industry. This meant, in turn, the other 63 fund promoters registering at least one ETF for sale in Europe accounted for only 7.89% 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 five of the 10 largest promoters by assets under management were among the 10-top selling ETF promoters for the month. UBS ETF was the best-selling ETF promoter in Europe for March (+€3.9 bn), ahead of Vanguard (+€3.0 bn) and Amundi ETF (+€2.2 bn).
Graph 7: Ten Best-Selling ETF Promoters, March 1 – March 31, 2026 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
The flows of the 10-top promoters accounted for estimated net inflows of €14.4 bn. As for the overall flow trend for March, it was clear that some of the 73 promoters (15) faced estimated net outflows (-€1.5 bn in total) over the course of the month.
Assets Under Management by ETFs
There were 4,784 instruments (primary share classes [2,377] and convenience share classes [2,407]) listed as ETFs in the Lipper database at the end of March. Regarding the overall market pattern, it was not surprising assets under management at the ETF level were also highly concentrated. Only 512 of the 2,377 ETFs (primary share classes = portfolios= ETFs) held assets above €1.0 bn each. These ETFs accounted for €2,259.4 bn, or 85.04%, of the overall assets in the European ETF industry. The 10 largest ETFs in Europe accounted for €508.5 bn, or 19.14%, of the overall assets under management.
Graph 8: The 10 Largest ETFs by Assets Under Management, March 31, 2026 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
Estimated Net Flows at the ETF Level
A total of 1,142 of the 2,377 ETFs (primary share classes = portfolios = ETFs) analyzed in this report showed net inflows of more than €10,000 each for March, accounting for inflows of €55.1 bn. This meant the other 1,235 instruments faced no flows, or net outflows, for the month. Upon closer inspection, only 146 of the 1,142 ETFs posting net inflows enjoyed inflows of more than €100 m over the course of March—for a total of €37.9 bn. The best-selling ETF for March was Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF, which enjoyed estimated net inflows of €2.1 bn. It was followed by iShares Core EURO STOXX 50 UCITS ETF (+€1.7 bn) and UBS ACWI SF UCITS ETF (+€1.6 bn).
Graph 9: The 10 Best-Selling ETFs, March 1 – March 31, 2026 (Euro Billions)
Source: LSEG Lipper
The flow pattern at the fund level indicated there was a lot of turnover and rotation during the month, 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 €11.0 bn.
Given its size and the overall trend for net sales at the promoter level, it was surprising that only two of the 10 best-selling funds for March were issued by iShares. These iShares ETFs accounted for estimated net inflows of €2.6 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.
