Mutual funds, ETFs saw their total assets shoot up to new highs in January

Both mutual funds and ETFs set new records for total assets under management (AUM) in January, according to a Securities and Investment Management Association (SIMA) report published Monday.

Mutual fund AUM reached an all-time high of $2.6 trillion at the end of the month, up by $35 billion or 1.4% from December, when a dip in assets occurred, the data showed.

On an annual basis, mutual fund AUM grew by 10.9%, up $252 billion from $2.3 trillion at the end of January 2025.

Mutual funds posted net sales of $5.7 billion in January, which was the highest monthly sales amount recorded for the products since February 2025, SIMA noted.

Bond mutual funds drove the gains, with $4.2 billion in net sales, followed by balanced funds at $1.5 billion and specialty funds at $1.4 billion.

On the other hand, equity mutual funds and money-market mutual funds were in negative sales territory, recording $588 and $742 million in net redemptions, respectively.

ETF assets hit their highest ever level too, coming in at $743.8 billion at the end of January. This marked a $30.8 billion or 4.3% increase from the previous month.

By comparison, ETF AUM hit $541.2 billion by the end of January 2025. This means ETF assets grew by $202.6 billion or 37.4% on an year-over-year basis.

ETF net sales set a new monthly record, with $20.8 gathered in January, “surpassing the previous record set just last month,” the report said.

Equity ETFs dominated net sales, receiving $13.3 billion in net inflows.

Bond ETFs posted net sales of $4 billion, followed by specialty ETFs at $2 billion and balanced ETFs at $1.6 billion.

Meanwhile, money-market ETFs bled out, recording $88 million in net outflows for the month.