The world's largest asset manager kept inflows lead last month among passive fund families, according to the latest data from the folks at a publicly traded investment research company.

This article draws from Morningstar Direct data on December 2024 open-end mutual fund and ETF flows, excluding money market funds and funds of funds. (The data also excludes other asset management products, like CITs and separate accounts.***) More specifically, this article focuses on the 154 firms (up by three month-over-month from November 2024 and up by 13 year-over-year from December 2023) that offer passively managed long-term mutual funds or ETFs.

BlackRock (including iShares) led the way for a third month in a row, thanks to an estimated $43.947 billion in net December 2024 passive inflows, up by $5.376 billion M/M from November 2024 and up by $16.672 billion Y/Y from December 2023. Other big December 2024 passive inflows winners included: Vanguard, $39.762 billion (up by $11.276 billion M/M, up by $17.513 billion Y/Y); State Street's SSGA, $15.998 billion (down by $7.792 billion M/M, down by $29.319 billion Y/Y); Fidelity, $15.424 billion (up by $5.354 billion M/M, up by $5.961 billion Y/Y); and Schwab, $8.698 billion (up by $3.257 billion M/M, up by $5.225 billion Y/Y).

On the flip side, J.P. Morgan (including Six Circles) took the passive outflows lead last month, thanks to an estimated $2.337 billion in net December 2024 passive outflows, up by $1.539 billion M/M from November 2024 but a $3.428-billion net flows drop Y/Y from December 2023. Other big December 2024 passive outflows sufferers included: Grayscale, $1.392 billion (up by $1.128 billion M/M, up by $1.392 billion Y/Y); ProShares and ProFunds, $703 million (up by $30 million M/M, down by $1.099 billion Y/Y); Rafferty's Direxion, $583 million (a $1.352-billion net flows drop M/M, down by $275 million Y/Y); and Jackson, $509 million (down by $59 million M/M, up by $156 million Y/Y).

Ooverall, passive funds brought in a combined $127.397 billion in net inflows in December 2024, down by $1.871 billion M/M from November 2024 but up by $9.3 billion Y/Y from December 2023. 57.1 percent (88) of passive fund families brought in net passive inflows in December 2024, up M/M from 53 percent and up Y/Y from 42.5 percent.

***This caveat is particularly important for the largest fund firms, many of which are big players in the 401(k) business, where collective investment trusts (CITs) and institutional separate accounts are commonly used alternatives to traditional mutual funds. 

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