Vanguard Again Tops Industry in Annual ETF Inflows

 Vanguard provides “cheap, easy-to-understand, broad access to different markets,” Bryan Armour, Morningstar passive strategy research director for North America, told ThinkAdvisor on Monday.

“Rather than having a long roster of different strategies that cater to any possible investor, they really concentrate on bringing the same sort of strategy to different segments of the market,” Armour added. “They’ve built the reputation for being a thoughtful and investor-centric supplier of cheap beta. And I think that’s really just been the tailwind for them.

As investors move into index funds, they think of Vanguard, he added.

Dave Nadig, financial futurist at data and analytics firm VettaFi, offered a similar view via email Monday.

“Vanguard has a strong following with retail advisors in particular, and their product line is really well-designed for folks looking just to get low-cost beta. They also consistently survey as having one of the most trusted brands in financial services,” Nadig told ThinkAdvisor.

“While they are not the cheapest in every category in which they compete, they’re generally close, and so I believe there’s just a comfort level for many investors being with Vanguard,” Nadig said. “That said, all is hardly lost for competitors. There’s still plenty of room for innovation in the ETF (space) and Vanguard is notoriously conservative when it comes to their pace of product launches. I suspect this trend will continue, not just for them, but for other low-cost beta providers like JP Morgan and Schwab.”