Largest ETF inflows, outflows so far in 2021

The United States continues to attract the lion's share of the exchanged-traded funds' money. In the first five months of 2021, ETF net inflows are nearly $282 billion, dwarfing Japan's $17.4 billion. Over the last three years, U.S. ETF net inflows were $1.2 trillion.

Analyzing the U.S. data closer, Vanguard accounted for four out of the top 10 funds, including the top gainer, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, which attracted over $24 billion this year. Over three years, the fund's inflow was nearly $67 billion, only trailing the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF's $72 billion. Year to date, the Vanguard Total Stock Market fund attracted $16.6 billion of assets.

On the flip side, eight BlackRock iShares ETFs landed on the bottom of the list, including five bond funds and the Russell 1000 Growth ETF. The iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF had the largest outflow thus far this year, $11.8 billion. That ETF's outflow is a more recent phenomenon, with net outflows totaling $1.9 billion over three years. However, investors continued pulling money out of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust fund, with a $9.9 billion net outflow so far this year and $33.7 billion over three years.