Exchange-traded funds, known as ETFs, are bundles of individual investments that can include stocks, bonds and other assets. ETFs vary in both size and cost, leaving investors with plenty of options when searching for the right addition to their portfolio. Thousands of ETFs are currently on the market, each associated with a defined brand. Behind every brand stands a governing entity referred to as the issuer.
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“The main difference between the brand and the issuer of an ETF is that a brand is a unique product identifier, and issuers are those responsible for the management of the security,” says John Jones, an investment advisor representative at Heritage Financial. “Think of it as the company PepsiCo owns the brands Lay’s, Pepsi (and) Gatorade.”
The issuer of an ETF is responsible for creating, administering and marketing the fund. In recent years, issuers have been changing the composition of ETFs.
“(We) have seen a big shift in the last few years in the size of ETFs that come to market,” with more smaller-sized ETFs coming to market than last year, says Stash Graham, managing director at Graham Capital Wealth Management. “These ETFs tend to be more active and niche-focused than the older, passive index-mimicking funds.”
Though the size of individual ETFs may be shrinking, the biggest brands show no signs of slowing down, which can be a boon for investors.
More popular or notable ETFs have more volume, “which provides more liquidity for the investor,” Jones says.
If you’re seeking a popular ETF, these five brands are among the largest in the world:
| ETF Brand | Issuer | Number of ETFs | Assets Under Management (AUM) |
| iShares | BlackRock | 1,250 | $2.5 trillion |
| Vanguard | Vanguard | 82 | $2.2 trillion |
| SPDR | State Street Global Advisors | 138 | $1.1 trillion |
| Invesco | Invesco | 225 | $431 billion |
| Charles Schwab | Charles Schwab | 30 | $300 billion |
*All numbers provided by brand website.
iShares
iShares is the largest ETF brand in the United States, with more than 1,250 ETFs on the market and $2.5 trillion in assets under management, or AUM. The issuer behind this mega brand is BlackRock Inc. (ticker: BLK), a global investment management firm.
Since iShares’ initial launch of just 17 ETFs in 1996, the brand has grown significantly. BlackRock has been managing the iShares ETF offerings since acquiring them from Barclays in 2009.
Vanguard
You might not expect the pioneer of mutual fund index investing to be the second-largest ETF brand in the world, but that’s exactly what Vanguard is.
The company began offering ETFs in 2001 as both the brand and the issuer of its funds, which continued the firm’s patented approach to indexing. Unique from most of its competitors, Vanguard does not have external shareholders or a private ownership group.
Though there are only 82 Vanguard-branded ETFs currently on the market in the U.S., this popular brand has $2.2 trillion in AUM, with the company itself commanding over $7.7 trillion in AUM.
SPDR
ETFs that bear the SPDR brand are issued by State Street Global Advisors, which is the investment management arm of State Street Corp. (STT). This investment firm created SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), the first ETF to hit the U.S. market in 1993. SPY is the most actively traded ETF in the world with $360 billion in AUM alone.
Since the creation of ETFs, State Street Global Advisors has continued to be an innovator in ETF creation, introducing several unique ETFs to the market. Through various partnerships, the firm launched the first gold-backed ETF, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD); actively managed senior loan ETF, SPDR Blackstone Senior Loan ETF (SRLN); and sector-specific ETFs in the U.S.
While SPDR may hold the single most popular ETF and holds 138 ETFs in total, the brand’s AUM is half those of its top competitors, at about $1.1 trillion.
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Invesco
Invesco Ltd. (IVZ) is another issuer that brands its own ETFs. The global investment provider has 225 branded ETFs, covering 13 asset classes from U.S. equity and fixed income to alternative digital asset ETFs. Invesco was initially created in Atlanta in 1978 when Citizens & Southern National Bank spun off its money management operations.
Invesco launched its first ETF in 2003, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP), which was shortly followed by the Invesco Bloomberg MVP Multi-factor ETF (BMVP).
As of Oct. 31, 2023, Invesco’s ETF offerings amounted to about $431 billion in AUM.
Charles Schwab
In addition to traditional investment and banking services, Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) has a suite of branded ETFs, making the company both a brand and an issuer. The more than two dozen funds include domestic and international equity funds and domestic fixed-income funds.
Schwab launched its first four ETFs on Nov. 3, 2009: the Schwab International Equity ETF (SCHF), Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF (SCHB), Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF (SCHX) and Schwab U.S. Small-Cap ETF (SCHA). The most recent addition to the brand’s lineup is the Schwab High Yield Bond ETF (SCYB), which debuted in July 2023 and already has more than $65 million in AUM.
The company as a whole has nearly $960 billion in AUM, but its 30 branded ETFs account for around $300 billion in AUM.
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5 Biggest ETF Brands and Their Issuers originally appeared on usnews.com
