By Kestutis Balciunas·Reviewed August 21, 2026

Global ETF News – International Market Updates

Market‐Moving Headlines

• ETF assets hit fresh highs. Global ETF AUM surged to $16.99 trn in June 2025. Meanwhile, European ETFs climbed to $2.74 trn.
• Record cash floods in. Year-to-date net inflows stand at an unprecedented $897.7 bn worldwide.
• Europe back in vogue. UCITS funds attracted €64 bn in Q2. Notably, broad-based equity took the crown.
• Active ETFs gather pace. Actively managed vehicles now hold $1.5 trn globally. Moreover, they count for more than half of 2025’s new launches.
• Launch boom. The first half of 2025 saw 1 308 new ETFs, smashing prior records.

Global Flows at a Glance

Asset Class Split – June 2025

Key Themes Driving 2025

1. Europe Reclaims the Spotlight

European-listed ETFs absorbed $120.6 bn into equities in H1. Notably, this marks the strongest six-month haul on record. The iShares Core MSCI World UCITS (SWDA) and Vanguard FTSE All-World (VWRL) topped the inflow charts. Consequently, the data underscores a shift toward global diversification rather than pure U.S. beta.

2. Active Management Goes Mainstream

Active ETFs have vaulted past the symbolic $1 trn mark. They lure investors with tactical flexibility and tax-efficient wrappers. JPMorgan’s Mortgage-Backed Securities ETF (JMTG) and High Yield ETF (JPHY) rank among the top ten launches. Therefore, fixed-income appetite remains alive. As more investors seek diversified income streams, the growth of active ETFs signals a shift in investment strategies. Many of these funds complement an ETF buy and hold strategy. In practice, they let investors capitalize on market movements while maintaining a longer-term perspective. With these advantages, active ETFs have become a vital component of modern investment portfolios.

3. Thematic Rotation & Smart Beta Fatigue

• Machine Learning and Cybersecurity scooped the largest thematic inflows early-year.
• Clean Energy and Autonomous Vehicles suffered redemptions as rate sensitivity bit.
• Equal-weight U.S. strategies bled assets amid fears of deepening U.S. policy risk.

4. Fixed Income Revival

Ultrashort Treasuries and AAA CLO UCITS products attracted heavy demand. Investors balanced equity risk with yield. Additionally, government-bond UCITS gathered €7.8 bn in June alone.

This analysis sits within our top ETFs by category index.

5. Commodities Shine Again

Gold ETCs captured nearly $0.7 bn in June. This move flipped 2024’s outflow trend as inflation hedging returned to favour. Importantly, Physical Silver and niche metals ETPs followed suit.

Regional Snapshots

North America

• S&P 500 ETFs slipped down the inflow rankings; investors rotated into global and EM exposures.
• Crypto-linked ETPs maintained momentum with IBIT (Bitcoin) adding $3.9 bn in June.

Europe

• Equity allocations diversified beyond home bias; ACWI and World benchmarks dominated.
• Active UCITS launches accelerated, aided by Luxembourg’s subscription-tax exemption.

Asia-Pacific

• Korea’s market rallied 16% in June, propelling inflows into local equity ETFs.
• China recorded net outflows €60 bn from mutual funds, but local bond ETFs gained traction.

Launch League Table – Top New ETFs 2025

Strategy Tips for European Investors

1. Diversify currency risk. Global ETFs with EUR-hedged share classes can soften USD swings.
2. Blend active & passive. Use low-cost core beta (e.g., SWDA) with high-conviction active satellites.
3. Mind liquidity. For niche themes, check daily volumes and bid-ask spreads. This step matters especially on smaller European exchanges.
4. Consider fixed-income ladders. Ultrashort and AAA CLO ETFs now offer attractive risk-adjusted yields versus money market funds.
5. Stay thematic—but rotate. Machine Learning still draws flows. However, Energy Transition themes may regain traction if rates peak.

Conclusion

Global ETF expansion shows no sign of slowing. Indeed, assets, launches and inflows all set fresh records in 2025. For European investors, the opportunity set looks richer than ever. It spans broad UCITS, surging active products and targeted themes. In short, balancing geographic breadth, asset-class mix and cost discipline remains the recipe for outperformance in a fast-evolving ETF ecosystem.

Sources and further reading

• justETF — European UCITS ETF screener
• Morningstar UK ETF rankings
• ESMA — European Securities and Markets Authority
• Bogleheads wiki — EU investing
• ETF.com industry data

Fee Cuts, Regulatory Shifts and What I Actually Changed in My Portfolio

The headline AUM numbers tell only part of the story. The quieter narrative of June 2025 was a fresh wave of TER compression across European core equity products. Notably, Amundi trimmed the Prime Global UCITS ETF (PRIW) to 0.05%, undercutting the long-time benchmark of SPDR MSCI ACWI IMI (SPYI) at 0.17%. Moreover, Invesco repriced its FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (FWRA) to 0.07%, which sits a hair below Vanguard’s VWCE at 0.22%. In my experience, a 15-basis-point spread looks tiny in isolation. However, compounded across a 25-year holding period on a six-figure portfolio, the gap exceeds EUR 8,000. Therefore, I rebalanced about 18% of my core equity sleeve from VWCE into FWRA during the second week of June 2025.

Crucially, fees are not the only moving variable. Regulators have been busy. ESMA published its updated Guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms in May 2024, with full compliance enforced from 21 May 2025 for existing funds. As a result, dozens of UCITS ETFs either renamed themselves or quietly tightened their index methodology. For example, several “ESG Enhanced” trackers had to demonstrate that at least 80% of assets meet the environmental or social characteristics promoted, per the published ESMA guidance. By contrast, products that could not document the threshold simply dropped the ESG label. Additionally, the second phase of PRIIPs KID reforms tightened performance-scenario rules, which now require clearer “unfavourable” projections. In practice, this makes side-by-side comparison of synthetic versus physical replication ETFs less ambiguous than it was 18 months ago.

For a curated ESG-rated shortlist, the climate ETF screener maintains the filter.

Consequently, MiCA enforcement under Article 88 has also rippled into crypto ETP land. The iShares Bitcoin ETP (IB1T), listed on Xetra at 0.25% after its post-launch fee waiver expired, now sits alongside CoinShares Physical Bitcoin (BITC) at 0.25% and 21Shares Core Bitcoin (CBTC) at 0.21%. Notably, none of these are UCITS-eligible. I keep that exposure capped at 3% of net worth and route it through a segregated brokerage account, separate from my core justETF-tracked UCITS portfolio. In short, regulatory clarity has reduced platform risk. However, tax treatment under Article 9 of EU national withholding regimes remains messy. For documented HMRC, Revenue.ie and BZSt positions on ETP gains, the official Revenue.ie capital-gains pages remain the cleanest primary source for Irish-domiciled investors.

Why are core equity ETF fees still falling in 2025?

Three forces are converging. First, Amundi’s integration of the former Lyxor range gave it scale to underprice incumbents — Prime Global (PRIW) now sits at 0.05% TER. Second, Invesco repriced FWRA to 0.07% to pressure Vanguard’s VWCE. Third, securities-lending revenue offsets stated fees on large funds, letting issuers absorb cuts. In practice, the floor on core developed-market beta now sits near 0.05%, and I expect that line to hold through 2026 unless an issuer cross-subsidises a flagship product to grab market share aggressively.

What changed under the ESMA ESG fund-naming guidelines?

From 21 May 2025, any UCITS using “ESG,” “sustainable,” “climate,” “impact” or similar terms in its name must allocate at least 80% of assets to investments meeting the promoted characteristics. Additionally, “sustainability”-labelled funds must exclude Paris-Aligned Benchmark or Climate Transition Benchmark exclusions. Several iShares and Xtrackers products consequently renamed themselves or repositioned. In my view, the change reduced greenwashing risk but added re-screening work — I now re-check methodology PDFs each November because index-rule changes are often quiet.

Should I switch from VWCE to a cheaper all-world ETF?

It depends on your cost basis. Switching inside a tax-advantaged wrapper (ISA, PEA, Lithuanian III pillar) is usually painless. By contrast, switching inside a taxable brokerage account triggers capital-gains tax on accumulated gains. I switched a partial slice in my Trade Republic taxable account because the deferred CGT cost was lower than the projected 14-bp annual fee saving over 18+ years. However, if your VWCE position has multi-year embedded gains and you are within 5 years of drawdown, the math typically favours holding.

Are crypto ETPs on European exchanges UCITS-compliant?

No. UCITS rules prohibit single-commodity or single-crypto exposure inside the fund wrapper. Products like IB1T, BITC and CBTC are exchange-traded notes (ETNs) or exchange-traded products (ETPs), not UCITS funds. Consequently, they sit outside the EUR 20,000 ICF investor-compensation umbrella that protects UCITS holdings via CySEC-supervised brokers. I treat them as speculative satellites, cap exposure at 3% of net worth, and use a separate brokerage account so any custodian event is contained.

Kestutis Balciunas
European UCITS/ETF investor with 11+ years building a global dividend and index portfolio, and founder of Financial Expert Class. I write every guide here from first-hand experience investing across EU brokers and tax regimes — not theory. More about me →