If there’s one thing investment strategies and ice cream have in common, it’s that Americans prefer vanilla.

Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF (VOO) last week became the first ETF to top $700 billion in assets under management, just months after dethroning State Street’s SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) as the largest ETF in the world. The milestone underscores Vanguard’s dominance in the ETF market and client preference for simple, low-cost, passive strategies.

“A lot more people have gotten the message that fees matter,” said Dan Sotiroff, Morningstar research analyst. “Active management in the US large cap space is hard to do, and it’s even more difficult to do consistently, so they’re just opting to buy a low-cost index fund.”

Va-Va-VOOm

So far in 2025, VOO is up roughly 10%, trading around $590 per share. In the same period, it has taken in nearly $79 billion in flows, according to VettaFi data. Despite macroeconomic uncertainty and worries about overvaluation, clients continue to believe in large-cap US equities, said Cinthia Murphy, VettaFi investment strategist. “They are staying invested and increasing that investment throughout the turbulence, and the market continues to deliver on the upside,” she told Advisor Upside.

Eh, Don’t Risk It. Whether it’s crypto, private equity or hedge funds, there’s a lot of hype about clients having a growing appetite for risk. Just last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order expanding access to alternatives in 401(k)s that backers say caters to mass affluent clients who want riskier opportunities with potentially higher yields in their retirement accounts.

Sotiroff, however, says much of the hype is coming from the industry itself rather than reflecting actual investor demand. The Apollos and BlackRocks of the world have tapped their core audience of big institutions and endowments and are looking to expand their reach, he said. “Now, it’s all about getting those private assets into the hands of retirement accounts and small, retail investors,” he told Advisor Upside.

Meanwhile, flows into low-risk money market mutual funds also have surged in recent years. In March, the funds reported record assets of more than $7 trillion. “Are we really in a risk-on environment when you see all that’s going into money market funds?” Sotiroff asked.

It’s only fitting that the state that gave us Bruce Springsteen would be pressing for new protections for workers.

The Garden State’s labor department is considering changes to the criteria that determine whether workers are categorized as independent contractors or as employees. The state regulator’s proposal goes further than the current standards and could require many workers who are currently considered contractors to be made full-time employees. And that, trade groups say, would make business hard for insurance companies and broker-dealers. On Tuesday, the Financial Services Institute published results of a survey of 367 New Jersey financial advisors, finding that 65% said they would consider moving their businesses out of the state if the proposed changes are enacted.

“Their independent contractor status affords them the freedom and flexibility to provide affordable, high-quality financial advice to their clients,” FSI CEO Dale Brown said in a statement. “This proposed rule threatens not only the businesses advisors have built, but also New Jersey families’ access to the advice they rely on to navigate life transitions and achieve financial security.”

Easy as 1-W2-3

New Jersey has a three-part test to determine workers’ classifications, which as in other states, is called an ABC test. Generally, that includes whether a worker is under control or direction, provides services outside the usual course of business for a company (and outside of its locations) and works in an independent trade or occupation. One change to the test could make workers’ houses be considered extensions of companies’ business locations, thus disqualifying such workers from being independent contractors, according to comments from The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA).

There have been other efforts to categorize more contractors as employees, both nationally and at state levels, changes that could make workers eligible for benefits such as health insurance and paid family leave. The Biden administration’s Department of Labor finalized a more comprehensive rule in 2024 to make many gig workers full-time employees, though the Trump administration clarified that it is not enforcing some of the provisions. And a set of new standards passed by California’s legislature in 2019 has various carve-outs, such as for insurance brokers, allowing them to be excluded.

Some of the other findings that FSI touted from its survey include:

• Ninety-four percent of independent advisors said they are very satisfied with being considered independent contractors.
• Three quarters said they value owning their own businesses, and 62% said working as contractors helped them better serve clients.
• Four percent said they would retire if the proposed changes went into effect, while 8% said they would consider becoming employees.

Legislate It. Several Republican state lawmakers indicated they would introduce a bill to invalidate the state DOL’s proposal. “Stripping away this independence would burden both gig workers as well as businesses who prefer to work with independent contractors in a more copacetic arrangement,” Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger said in a statement.

Apparently, all that glitters is not gold.

Gold boomed this year as a safe haven from a lackluster bond market and a stock market shaken by Liberation Day jitters. But quietly, silver was also gaining momentum, with prices now up roughly 30% this year versus gold’s 28% rise. Silver’s role as an inflation hedge and its industrial uses, combined with a supply deficit, have created strong tailwinds for the precious metal.

“Gold sometimes steals the spotlight as an inflation hedge, especially given the tariffs, but silver has been benefiting from that, too, as a store of value,” said Nate Miller, vice president of product development at Amplify.

I’ve Got One More Silver Dollar

Unlike gold, which is primarily an investment or jewelry component, silver has broad industrial applications driving demand. “Silver is second to oil when it comes to industrial application,” Miller told Advisor Upside. “Solar panels are the most common use, but it’s in smartphones, AI, semiconductors, data centers, so there’s a structural tailwind from all that.” Supply constraints are also in play. HSBC projects a deficit of 206 million ounces this year, up from 167 million in 2024.

That combination has powered strong returns from silver ETFs:

• There are only five silver-focused ETFs trading in the US, and they have $21.5 billion in assets, with the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) accounting for 85% of the total, according to CFRA data.
• The ProShares Ultra Silver (AGQ) is the best performing this year at 53%; the ProShares UltraShort Silver (ZSL), an inverse fund, is down almost as much at 45%. The rest — the Abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF (SIVR), the Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PSLV) and SLV — are all up more than 30%.
• Separately, funds that track silver mining companies are performing even better, with the Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL), the Amplify Junior Silver Miners ETF (SILJ) and the iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF (SLVP) all up roughly 70% or more this year.

Silver Lining. Still, silver funds haven’t seen the same investor inflows as gold or copper. Silver ETFs have attracted $1.15 billion in 2025 — about 6% of current assets — while gold ETFs and copper funds are up 12% and 17% in flows, respectively, according to CFRA data.

Silver’s lag may stem from macro and geopolitical factors, with central banks favoring gold to hedge against US Treasuries, said Aniket Ullal, head of ETF research and analytics at CFRA. “Flows tend to lag performance, so if silver returns continue to be strong in 2H 2025, ETF flows could pick up further,” he told Advisor Upside. “Price momentum will be sustained if there is demand from sectors like electronics and renewable energy.”