Vanguard S&P 500 ETF sees record inflows of $13B in a single week

Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF, ticker VOO, just vacuumed up roughly $13 billion in a single week, continuing a streak that has made it the undisputed king of the US ETF market. The numbers behind the dominance VOO became the first ETF in history to cross $1 trillion in assets under management back in June 2026. Year-to-date inflows through mid-2026 are estimated between $75 billion and $110 billion, the highest among all US-listed ETFs by a wide margin. In late August alone, VOO pulled in approximately $11.4 billion over a five-day stretch. Early September kept the momentum going, with multiple single-day inflows ranging from roughly $2.99 billion to $3.28 billion. Why VOO is eating everyone’s lunch The explanation is deceptively simple: fees. VOO charges an expense ratio of 0.03%, which means investors pay $3 per year for every $10,000 invested. Its most famous competitor, State Street’s SPY, charges 0.09%, triple the cost for essentially identical exposure to the S&P 500. While VOO has been inhaling capital, SPY and BlackRock’s IVV have experienced combined outflows totaling nearly $20 billion during the same period. SPY still has a structural advantage in the options market, wh...