Vanguard, Invesco and WisdomTree soared past rival ETF issuers in 2025 with strong momentum in asset gathering and new launch activity, according to new rankings published by ETF Stream.
The research, titled ETF Issuer Power Rankings 2025, found the trio of US managers booked significant relative progress against peers in Europe based on a proprietary methodology which measures five metrics over a 12-month period:
- Flows – absolute and relative flows in 2025
- Trading – cumulative volume and volume relative to number of ETPs
- Revenue – absolute revenues from fees and revenue relative to number of ETPs
- Activity – the number of ETP launches and first-to-market strategies
- Presence – absolute flows across nine product classes: equities, fixed income, commodities, ESG, emerging markets, thematics, sectors, actives and factors
ETF Stream’s ETF Issuer Power Rankings is a data-driven assessment of the top 25 ETF issuers in Europe and their performance on a relative and absolute basis during the previous calendar year.
Jack Bogle’s Vanguard makes it onto the podium for the first time after breaking a three-year launch drought in European ETFs, embarking on ambitious retail distribution initiatives and slashing fees across its core offerings.
The Pennsylvania-based manager boasted impressive inflows, adding $31.7bn in net new money through 2025 – the third highest of any issuer – despite finishing the year with a lean range of just 40 products.
Invesco broke into the top five in the rankings after booking the second-highest inflows across smart
beta and commodity segments, which alongside market performance supported 44.6% growth in assets under management across its European ETP business.
WisdomTree leapt seven positions versus the previous year thanks to $3.9bn piling into its high-margin thematic products, led by the timely launch of its first-of-a-kind Europe defence ETF.
The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, tops the annual issuer rankings for the first time after not only extending its dominance in asset gathering and trading volume within European ETFs, but also outdoing its own performance in previous years on a relative basis across product categories.
Its $92.8bn inflows into equities and $36.1bn into fixed income were both comfortably more than double its closest rival and around 40% ahead of the figures it posted in each category last year.
Long-standing incumbents in Europe’s developing active ETF segment faced greater resistance amid intensifying competition. Nordea and Robeco, which narrowly missed out on inclusion in this year’s rankings, both ranked within the top 25 issuers for net new assets into their new ETF businesses.
Jamie Gordon, Editor of ETF Stream, said:
“While index-tracking core exposures still claim most of the scale in European ETFs, the past year has been defined by issuers rushing to lead the market in active ETF launches, retail distribution and ‘ETF-as-a-service’ third party offerings. The ETF Issuer Power Rankings showcase the dynamic nature of Europe’s ETF market and the asset managers delivering timely product innovation.”
Pawel Janus, co-founder and head of analytics at ETFbook, which provided the data for the research, added:
“European ETFs continue to demonstrate strong structural growth, reflected not only in rising assets under management but also in accelerating product innovation and a broadening issuer landscape. The competitive dynamics of the market are evolving rapidly, particularly with the expansion of active ETFs and increasingly specialised strategies.”
“In this environment, scale alone is no longer sufficient. Issuers must differentiate through innovation, distribution strength and operational excellence. The ETF Issuer Power Rankings provide a data-driven framework for buy-side investors assessing the competitive positioning and capabilities of ETF issuers in Europe.”
