The rapidly growing exchange traded funds industry could seize half of the money currently held by long-term US mutual funds in the coming decade, according to estimates by Citi.
US investors have gradually been switching from mutual funds to ETFs for at least the past decade, attracted by lower costs, better liquidity and greater tax efficiency. Mutual funds, excluding money market funds, have seen net outflows in nine of the past 10 years in the US, according to data from the Investment Company Institute, even as ETFs have seen constant inflows.
Despite this, however, the mutual fund industry remains far larger, with $19.6tn in long-term funds at the end of 2023, according to the ICI, dwarfing the $8.1tn in US-listed ETFs.