Active ETF $AUM rose 2.2% like-for-like in October 2026 to $2.35tn, almost twice the 1.2% gain across all ETFs, with net flows adding 2.8 percentage points.
October 2026 ETF flows at a glance
Active ETFs grew almost twice as fast as the wider ETF market in October 2026. Ultumus data shows active ETF $AUM up 2.2% like-for-like, against 1.2% for all ETFs.
Three terms matter for what follows:
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$AUM is assets under management in US dollars at month-end.
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Net flow is money entering ETFs minus money leaving them. Ultumus infers it from daily shares outstanding multiplied by NAV, adjusted for stock splits.
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Like-for-like compares only share classes present in both months. Newly covered products do not inflate growth.
Across the whole market, October growth of 1.2% came from net flows of +1.3 points and market moves of -0.2 points. Active ETFs saw net flows of +2.8 points and market moves of -0.6 points. Flows, not markets, did the work.
Active ETFs: $2.35tn and growing faster than the market
Active ETFs now hold about 11% of all ETF $AUM. The 20 largest active issuers manage $1.73tn of the $2.35tn total, and the top 20 line-up is unchanged from September.
| Active issuer | $AUM | October net flow |
| JPMorgan | $316.76bn | +$7.58bn |
| Dimensional | $202.32bn | +$2.23bn |
| iShares | $180.26bn | +$8.80bn |
| Capital Group | $166.12bn | +$5.31bn |
| American Century | $162.42bn | +$3.69bn |
iShares took the largest net inflow of any top 20 active issuer. BMO was the biggest climber, moving from #16 to #13. Roundhill was the biggest faller, from #11 to #17, after net outflows of $2.29bn.
Relative to size, Vanguard had the strongest flow. It added $2.80bn, equal to 7.9% of its September $AUM, and has recorded net inflows in each of the last 15 months.
The largest active ETFs
| Ticker | ETF | $AUM | October net flow |
| JEPI | JPMorgan Equity Premium Income | $46.47bn | -$171.6m |
| JEPQ | JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income | $43.72bn | +$935.1m |
| DYNF | iShares U.S. Equity Factor Rotation | $42.65bn | +$1.15bn |
| JPST | JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income | $42.50bn | +$336.1m |
| CGDV | Capital Group Dividend Value | $40.22bn | +$1.26bn |
The top 20 active ETFs hold $555.81bn. JPMorgan Core Plus Bond ETF (JCPB) entered the top 20 from #23 and added $2.01bn, 13.2% of its September $AUM. It has seen net inflows in each of the last 15 months.
Two of the top 20 active ETFs saw outflows above $2bn: ProShares GENIUS Money Market ETF (IQMM) lost $2.52bn and Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) lost $2.25bn.
Regions: active ETFs grew in all three
Active ETF $AUM rose in the US, Europe and Asia. Asia was the only region where the wider market fell, and active ETFs still grew there.
| Region | All ETFs $AUM | All ETFs change | Active $AUM | Active change |
| Global | $21.52tn | +1.2% | $2.35tn | +2.2% |
| US | $16.38tn | +1.4% | $2.08tn | +2.0% |
| Europe | $3.73tn | +0.4% | $123.45bn | +2.3% |
| Asia | $699.57bn | -2.3% | $81.92bn | +3.3% |
Changes are like-for-like for October 2026.
Asia: Active ETF net flows added 5.3 points, while market moves took off 2.0. Across all Asian ETFs, flows added 2.5 points and markets took off 4.7. Samsung KODEX leads Asian active issuers with $27.48bn and logged its fourth straight month of net inflows, $2.04bn this month. The Fuhwa Taiwan Future 50 Active ETF lost $3.43bn, the largest outflow among Asian active ETFs. The fund is new to Ultumus data this month.
Europe: Active $AUM rose 2.3%, with net flows of +3.0 points. JPMorgan manages $45.63bn of the region's active $AUM, across 162 share classes. PICTET had the largest flow for its size: $337.1m, 53.6% of its September $AUM, its fourth straight month of inflows.
US: Active $AUM rose 2.0%, with net flows of +2.7 points and market moves of -0.7. JPMorgan ($271.10bn), Dimensional ($199.40bn) and Capital Group ($166.12bn) hold the top three positions.
Asset classes: fixed income leads, crypto falls
Active fixed income grew fastest in October, up 4.2% like-for-like. Active commodities rose while the wider commodities market fell.
| Asset class | All ETFs $AUM | All ETFs change | Active $AUM | Active change |
| Equity | $17.13tn | +0.8% | $1.54tn | +1.2% |
| Fixed income | $3.58tn | +3.7% | $732.88bn | +4.2% |
| Commodities | $425.68bn | -3.8% | $19.04bn | +1.6% |
| Crypto | $146.17bn | -6.5% | $7.47bn | -12.2% |
Fixed income: Active net flows added 3.9 points and market moves added 0.2. JPMorgan leads with $129.87bn and took in $5.45bn. PIMCO follows with $60.84bn and $2.24bn of inflows. ProShares recorded the largest outflow for its size, -$2.52bn or 12.4% of its September $AUM.
Equity: Active net flows added 2.2 points, while market moves took off 1.0. Roundhill had the largest outflow relative to its size: $2.27bn, or 6.4% of its September $AUM.
Commodities: Active $AUM rose 1.6%, with flows of +0.7 points and market moves of +0.9. Across all commodities ETFs, $AUM fell 3.8%, almost entirely from market moves of -3.7 points.
Crypto: Active crypto $AUM fell 12.2%. Market moves accounted for -12.1 points and net flows for -0.1. SHP ETF took in $154.7m and has recorded net inflows in each of the last 15 months.
The wider ETF market: Vanguard and iShares set the pace
Vanguard and iShares together manage about $11.7tn, more than half of the $21.52tn global ETF market. Both kept drawing money in October.
| Issuer | $AUM | October net flow |
| iShares | $6.47tn | +$60.44bn |
| Vanguard | $5.24tn | +$73.57bn |
| SPDR | $2.33tn | +$20.54bn |
| Invesco | $1.20tn | +$4.30bn |
| Schwab | $627.69bn | +$8.58bn |
Vanguard took in the most money, and has had net inflows in each of the last 15 months. The top 20 issuers are the same as in September. Lyxor was the biggest faller, moving from #14 to #17.
Among individual ETFs, Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF (VOO) added $24.96bn and holds $1.06tn. Three of the next four largest ETFs saw net outflows: SPY lost $5.33bn, IVV lost $2.25bn and QQQ lost $2.08bn. SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 (SPYM) added $9.94bn, its tenth straight month of net inflows.
The SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) lost $1.96bn. Global commodities $AUM fell 3.8% like-for-like in the month.
The 12-month view: active ETFs nearly doubled the market's growth
Since October 2025, active ETF $AUM has grown 48.0% like-for-like. All ETFs grew 25.6%. Net flows supplied almost all of the active gain.
| Measure, Oct 2025 to Oct 2026 | All ETFs | Active ETFs |
| $AUM change, like-for-like | +25.6% | +48.0% |
| of which net flows | +15.5 pts | +43.7 pts |
| of which market moves | +10.1 pts | +4.2 pts |
| Best month | Apr 2026, +10.4% | Apr 2026, +9.8% |
| Worst month | Mar 2026, -7.2% | Mar 2026, -2.8% |
Active ETFs fell less than the market in the March 2026 drawdown, and nearly matched it in the April rebound.
By asset class, active $AUM is up 51.3% in equity, 41.7% in fixed income and 84.6% in commodities. It is down 39.7% in crypto.
Among the eight largest active issuers, every one recorded net inflows in every month of the year. Measured as net flows against October 2025 $AUM, iShares grew fastest at +73% and First Trust slowest at +21%. All active issuers together came in at +44%.
Among the eight largest issuers in the wider market, iShares, Vanguard, SPDR, Schwab, JPMorgan and Amundi each recorded net inflows in all 12 months. Invesco and Xtrackers each had one month of net outflows.
Key takeaways
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Active ETF $AUM reached $2.35tn across 4,884 share classes at the end of October 2026. It rose 2.2% like-for-like in the month.
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That beat the wider market. All ETFs, at $21.52tn across 13,759 share classes, rose 1.2%.
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Net flows drove the active gain: +2.8 points of growth, against -0.6 points from market moves.
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Active fixed income led, up 4.2% to $732.88bn. Active crypto fell 12.2% to $7.47bn.
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Over 12 months, active ETF $AUM is up 48.0% like-for-like. All ETFs are up 25.6%.
Source: Ultumus. Data to month-end 30 October 2026. Flows inferred from daily shares outstanding x NAV, adjusted for stock splits. Like-for-like changes compare only share classes present in both months.
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