Assets invested in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded products (ETPs) in the United States reached a record high of US$7.21 trillion in 2021, up 31.9% from US$5.47 trillion at the end of 2020, according to a new report.

Net inflows also recorded a record high of US$919.78 billion for the year, beating the prior record of US$490.19 billion in 2020, industry research and consultancy firm ETFGI says.

In December alone, US-listed ETFs and ETPs gained net inflows of US$116.38 billion, marking the 28th month of consecutive net inflows.

The top three providers accounted for 78.5% of assets, with iShares recording assets of US$2.466 trillion or a 34.2% market share. Vanguard saw assets reach US$2.08 trillion or 28.8%, followed by SPDR ETFs with US$1.11 trillion or 15.4%.

In terms of net inflows, the top three for the year were Vanguard with US$327.85 billion, iShares with US$212.68 billion, and SPDR ETFs with US$97.53 billion.

Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered a record US$641.48 billion in net inflows in 2021, up from US$205.92 billion in the previous year.

The US ETF/ETP industry had 2,805 products from 234 providers listed on three exchanges.

Commenting on the broader market, ETFGI founder and managing partner Deborah Fuhr says: “The S&P 500 increased 4.48% in December and was up 28.71% in 2021. Developed markets, excluding the US, experienced a gain of 4.89% in December and was up 11.38% in 2021. Luxembourg (up 12.65%) and Ireland (up 9.68%) experienced the largest gains among the developed markets in December.  Emerging markets were up 1.60% during December and gained 1.22% in 2021.  Mexico (up 12.80%) and Czech Republic (up 12.55%) gained the most among emerging markets in December, while Chile (down 5.26%) and China (down 2.73%) witnessed the largest declines.”