Tradeweb Exchange-Traded Funds Update – April 2025
The following data is derived from trading activity on the Tradeweb Markets institutional European- and U.S.-listed ETF platforms.
EUROPEAN-LISTED ETFs
Total traded volume
Trading activity on the Tradeweb European ETF marketplace amounted to an all-time record of EUR 98 billion in April, surpassing the platform’s previous top performance of EUR 82 billion in March. There was also a record proportion of transactions completed via Tradeweb’s Automated Intelligent Execution (AiEX) of 93.1%, while the percentage of notional volume automated reached 24.7%.
Adam Gould, Global Head of Equities at Tradeweb, said: “It was another record month for our European ETF marketplace, with total traded volume increasing by 86.6% year-over-year. The higher trading activity was driven by the continuously elevated market volatility, and a rise in clients leveraging our AiEX tool to improve reactivity to the challenging trading landscape with greater speed of execution.”
Volume breakdown
In April, equities remained the most actively-traded ETF asset class, comprising 68% of the overall platform flow. All ETF asset classes saw net-selling during the month, with ‘sells’ exceeding ‘buys’ by two percentage points for both equity- and fixed income-based ETFs, and by 10 percentage points for commodity-based products.
North America Equities continued to be the most heavily-traded ETF category, with over EUR 28 billion traded in April, and was mostly sold.
Top ten by traded notional volume
Eight of the ten most heavily-traded ETFs in April were equity-based. The iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF remained in the top spot, while the iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF, which last appeared in the top three in December 2021, placed second. The Invesco S&P 500 UCITS ETF ranked third during the month.
U.S.-LISTED ETFs
Total traded volume
Total consolidated U.S. ETF notional value traded in April reached USD 119 billion, the platform’s best-performing month on record.
Adam Gould, Global Head of Equities at Tradeweb, said: “It was the first-time trading activity on our U.S. ETF marketplace exceeded USD 100 billion, reflecting growing investor demand for ETFs as a way to reposition their risk profiles during volatile market conditions. Total traded volume in April grew by 122.5% compared to the same time period last year.”
Volume breakdown
As a percentage of total notional value, equities accounted for 53% and fixed income for 42%, with the remainder comprising commodity and specialty ETFs.
Top ten by traded notional volume
In a continuation of March’s trend, fixed income-based products formed the majority of the most actively-traded ETFs in the U.S., occupying seven places in this month’s top ten. The Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF moved up from sixth in March to place first in April. Meanwhile, the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF took second place, while the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF was third.
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