Investment Company InstituteIndustry body

Release: Active and Index Investing, August 2026

The Investment Company Institute's September 2026 release shows index mutual funds and ETFs at $22.40 trillion in August, ahead of $18.87 trillion in active funds.

Read the full paper at Investment Company Institute ↗
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What it says

Figures as stated by Investment Company Institute, Sep 30, 2026
  • Index mutual funds and ETFs took in a net $82.54 billion in August while active long-term funds lost $17.05 billion, per the Investment Company Institute.ICI
  • Investment Company Institute data show active fund assets up 1.5% in August to $18.87 trillion, against a 2.9% gain for index assets.ICI
  • Active funds focused on US stocks saw $34.45 billion leave in August, while index funds of the same type gained $20.41 billion, per the Investment Company Institute.ICI
  • Bond funds drew inflows on both sides in August, $31.62 billion for active and $45.55 billion for index, the Investment Company Institute says.ICI

The ETFIQ take

ETFIQ data to Oct 20, 2026 · the 746 of 4,807 ETFs ETFIQ covers with a daily figure, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026

Investment Company Institute reports index mutual fund and ETF assets of $22.40 trillion in August, against $18.87 trillion for active. From Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, the ETFs ETFIQ can count had a net flow of +$127.9bn, with +$90.1bn for stock ETFs and +$35.7bn for bond ETFs.

+$127.9bnnet flow, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, summed over the 746 of 4,807 ETFs ETFIQ covers with a daily figureOct 20, 2026 · ETFIQ →+$461.8bnnet flow, Jan 2, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, summed over the 713 of 4,807 ETFs ETFIQ covers with a daily figureOct 20, 2026 · ETFIQ →+$90.1bnnet flow into stock ETFs, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, over the 322 of 1,739 with a daily figureOct 20, 2026 · ETFIQ →+$35.7bnnet flow into bond ETFs, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, over the 204 of 833 with a daily figureOct 20, 2026 · ETFIQ →
Paper: Active and index US long-term funds and ETFs, August 2026. ETFIQ: the 746 of 4,807 ETFs ETFIQ covers with a daily figure, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026. Net flow is the change in shares outstanding times the day’s NAV, summed over the days in the window, for the funds with a daily figure. The two sets and windows differ; the figures are stated, not reconciled.MethodData

Related ETFs

The largest ETFs ETFIQ covers, by net assets
VOOVanguard S&P 500 ETF+16.5%IVViShares Core S&P 500 ETF+16.5%SPYSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust+16.4%VTIVanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF+15.9%QQQInvesco QQQ Trust, Series 1+19.2%VUGVanguard Morningstar Growth ETF+11.2%

Figure: total return, 1 year, to Oct 21, 2026, from each fund’s page. All 4,807 ETFs in the screener →

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Questions people ask

What does the Investment Company Institute paper conclude?

The Investment Company Institute's September 2026 release shows index mutual funds and ETFs at $22.40 trillion in August, ahead of $18.87 trillion in active funds. The paper’s own words are at the link above.

What does ETFIQ’s data show on the same question?

From Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, the ETFs ETFIQ can count had a net flow of +$127.9bn, with +$90.1bn for stock ETFs and +$35.7bn for bond ETFs. ETFIQ states both figures and does not reconcile them.

What is an ETF’s net flow?

The change in its shares outstanding times its net asset value, summed over the days of a window: money in less money out. More on this →

Where can I read “Release: Active and Index Investing, August 2026”?

On Investment Company Institute’s own site. ETFIQ summarizes the paper and does not host it. Investment Company Institute’s page ↗
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, Release: Active and Index Investing, August 2026 (Investment Company Institute), summary and ETFIQ take, as of Oct 21, 2026. https://etfiq.com/research/library/ici-release-active-and-index-investing-august-2026/

Open data →

Summary by ETFIQ. ETFIQ is not affiliated with Investment Company Institute; logos identify the source.