According to Betashares, ETFs hit new records “in terms of assets and net flows – including inflows to International and Australian equities, fixed income and gold”.
“The Australian ETF industry ended the year at an all-time high, with the total industry market capitalisation sitting at $330.6 billion, representing 34.2 per cent year on year growth,” said Betashares.
“The industry grew $84.3 per cent in 2025 – an industry record in terms of dollar annual growth.”
ETF industry flows also “shattered” the record set in 2024, growing from $30 billion to $53 billion in 2025. Betashares also highlighted the continued strong trading values of the with annual ASX ETF trading value increased 39 per cent on 2024. In total, a record $196 billion of ETF value was traded on the ASX (compared with $141 billion in 2024).
“Flows remain concentrated despite an increase in the number of new issuers joining the market. Vanguard, Betashares and iShares were the top three issuers in terms of flows this year, recording roughly $37.5 billion in net inflows between them,” said Betashares.
“Collectively, the top three issuers this year (Vanguard, Betashares and iShares) took over 70 per cent of industry flows.”
According to Global X, precious metals, copper miners and critical minerals were among the best-performing ETF asset classes in 2025, with investors looking towards real assets amid “heightened geopolitical uncertainty, inflation concerns and accelerating electrification trends”.
“Gold benefited from strong central bank demand, persistent geopolitical tensions, elevated fiscal deficits, fears around US currency debasement and strong safe-haven buying, including from Australian retail investors who are turning to the yellow metal,” said Marc Jocum, senior product and investment strategist at Global X.
“While some of the rally was driven by retail fear of missing out (FOMO), gold’s recent healthy consolidation and finding technical support levels suggest positioning is becoming more balanced.
“More generally, ongoing geopolitical risk, central bank demand and concerns around the US currency provide a supportive backdrop for real assets, which could carry through into 2026.”
In terms of advice, the ETF that saw growth in interest among clients the most was crypto currency. According to a CoreData report, more than one in 10 (12 per cent) Australian adults now hold cryptocurrency in some capacity, making it the third most popular investment among Australians, beat only by cash (19 per cent) and Australian stocks and shares (21 per cent).
According to Swyftx and MyGov research, that number is closer to 21 per cent as of the end of 2025.
“The most common misconceptions I hear from the industry are crypto is a speculative bubble (often compared to tulips or pet rocks), its only used by criminals and money-launderers, there’s no real value being generated by crypto and that clients aren’t interested in crypto,” he explained.
“We know that advised investors are much less likely to hold digital assets, yet are very interested in investing in them,” he added.
“My belief is that older investors are at least partially less likely to invest in digital assets due to them having a much higher chance of being in an advised relationship.”
