Vanguard lags BlackRock in ETF sales

Vanguard Group is lagging BlackRock Inc. in ETF sales — but any sobbing you hear from the ETF industry probably isn't coming from the Malvern, Pa.-based behemoth. BlackRock's iShares welcomed $198.4 billion into its ETFs through November, according to Morningstar Inc. Vanguard is in second place, with $127.7 billion in net new assets. Top seller at iShares: The Core S&P 500 ETF, which saw an estimated net inflow of $30 billion, versus $13.2 billion for the Vanguard 500 Index ETF — a remarkable difference between two extremely similar products. Both funds track the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index and both charge 0.04% in expenses. "From an investor point of view, you can't slip a piece of paper between the two," said Dave Nadig, CEO of ETF.com. The sales difference could stem from the iShares marketing machine, Mr. Nadig said. "There's no question that BlackRock built a brand that resonates with the early adopter investor. iShares is probably the only real ETF brand." Vanguard, of course, has its legion of devoted fans, which have driven the company to $4.5 trillion in total assets, including traditional open-end funds. After iShares and Vanguard, however, is a considerable air pocket in sales: Charles Schwab & Co. weighs in at third with $24.3 billion in net new assets by Morningstar's estimate. But that's about a 30% improvement from last year for Schwab, Mr. Nadig notes. "That's really healthy growth," he said. Fourth-place State Street saw $15.5 billion in net new sales, according to Morningstar. "They have not had a good year," Mr. Nadig said. Large-cap foreign blend ETFs have been most popular with investors this year, with $65.4 billion in net new assets. Close behind: Large-cap U.S. ETFs, with $62.2 billion. Least popular: Commodity energy ETFs, with a $1 billion outflow.