Data sourced from Dakota Marketplace, the global LP and GP intelligence platform trusted by thousands of investment professionals. Learn More | Book a Demo
Every quarter, institutional investment managers with $100 million or more in 13(f) securities report their holdings to the SEC (SEC Form 13F FAQ). The filings are public but not built for prospecting: each is one firm's list of issuer names, share counts and values, with no asset class tags and no quarter-over-quarter comparison. Finding which RIAs hold a given ETF means pulling filings firm by firm and doing the matching yourself.
Dakota Marketplace does that work for you. Its 13F tab holds 2,621,000+ holdings, including 938,000+ ETF positions, searchable by ticker, asset class and product structure, with Status fields that flag each position as New, Increased, Decreased or Sold-Out versus last quarter.
We used that data to find which US total market ETFs the most RIAs actually own. One fund dominates: Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI) is held by 212 RIAs for the quarter ending December 31, 2025, nearly twice as many as the next fund, iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market (ITOT), at 109. VTI’s reach extends well beyond RIAs. It crossed $500 billion in assets in 2025, becoming only the fourth US-listed ETF to do so, and took in $19 billion in the first half of the year, the third most of any ETF (etf.com, July 2025).
In this article, we’ll rank the 10 total market ETFs held by the most RIAs, show where the dollars concentrate, and break down what a one-fund US equity core means for managers selling equity strategies.
The Top 10 US Total Market ETFs Held by RIAs
Ranked by the number of distinct RIAs reporting a position in 13F filings for the quarter ending December 31, 2025.
|
Rank
|
Ticker
|
ETF
|
Category
|
RIA holdings
|
|
1
|
VTI
|
Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF
|
Total market index
|
212
|
|
2
|
ITOT
|
iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF
|
Total market index
|
109
|
|
3
|
DFAC
|
Dimensional U.S. Core Equity 2 ETF
|
All-cap systematic (active)
|
85
|
|
4
|
SCHB
|
Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF
|
Total market index
|
68
|
|
5
|
DFUS
|
Dimensional U.S. Equity Market ETF
|
All-cap systematic (active)
|
59
|
|
6
|
DFAU
|
Dimensional US Core Equity Market ETF
|
All-cap systematic (active)
|
50
|
|
7
|
IWV
|
iShares Russell 3000 ETF
|
Total market index
|
49
|
|
8
|
SPTM
|
SPDR Portfolio S&P 1500 Composite Stock Market ETF
|
Total market index
|
44
|
|
9
|
AVUS
|
Avantis U.S. Equity ETF
|
All-cap systematic (active)
|
39
|
|
10
|
IYY
|
iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF
|
Total market index
|
15
|
Source: Dakota Marketplace 13F holdings data, quarter ending December 31, 2025.
What the Ranking Shows
1. VTI Is the Default US Core (212 RIAs)
VTI is held by 212 RIAs, more than any other ETF in this series except SPY. Across the three largest index funds, VTI, ITOT and SCHB, 227 RIAs hold at least one, 124 hold two or more, and 38 hold all three.
Total market funds hold large, mid, small and micro cap stocks in a single position. For an RIA, that means one fund can replace a large cap, mid cap and small cap sleeve. In total, 249 RIAs hold at least one US total market ETF.
2. Systematic Funds Hold More Money Than Index Funds (113 RIAs, 55% of Dollars)
Four of the top 10 funds are systematic all-cap funds from Dimensional and Avantis: DFAC, DFUS, DFAU and AVUS. They’re held by 113 RIAs, with $4.9B in holdings, about 55% of RIA total market ETF dollars. The index funds reach more RIAs but hold less money, at $4.0B.
These funds hold the whole US market but tilt toward smaller, cheaper and more profitable companies. They are the total market version of the factor funds that also lead the dollars in the Smart Beta and Small Cap posts.
3. Many RIAs Pair VTI With a Systematic Fund (92 RIAs)
The two approaches are not mutually exclusive. 92 RIAs hold both VTI and at least one Dimensional or Avantis total market fund, combining a cheap index core with a factor-tilted sleeve.
Want to see which RIAs in your territory hold these funds? Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace.
Breadth vs. Dollars: Where RIA Assets Concentrate
The ETFs held by the most RIAs are not always the ones holding the most RIA money. RIAs reported $8.9B in US total market ETF holdings for the quarter ending December 31, 2025.
|
Ticker
|
ETF
|
RIA holding
|
RIA holdings
|
|
VTI
|
Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF
|
212
|
$2.7B
|
|
DFAC
|
Dimensional U.S. Core Equity 2 ETF
|
85
|
$2.3B
|
|
DFAU
|
Dimensional US Core Equity Market ETF
|
50
|
$989M
|
|
DFUS
|
Dimensional U.S. Equity Market ETF
|
59
|
$913M
|
|
AVUS
|
Avantis U.S. Equity ETF
|
39
|
$705M
|
|
ITOT
|
iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF
|
109
|
$625M
|
VTI holds about 30% of all RIA total market ETF dollars, with an average position of $12.6M, one of the largest in this series. Eight RIA positions in VTI are over $50M each and total $1.3B.
The systematic funds draw even bigger tickets. DFAC averages $27.2M per RIA, DFAU $19.8M, AVUS $18.1M and DFUS $15.5M. ITOT goes the other way: second by holders, but sixth by dollars, with an average position of $5.7M.
Source: Dakota Marketplace 13F holdings data, quarter ending December 31, 2025.
What This Means for Investment Firms Pitching RIAs
A total market fund can be an RIA’s entire US equity allocation. When it is, every other US equity product is asking to carve out a piece of a single core position.
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Pitch against the core, not instead of it. An RIA holding VTI is unlikely to sell it. Show how your strategy adds something a total market index can’t: concentration, a factor tilt, downside management or an active return driver.
-
Expect fewer style sleeves. An RIA that relies on VTI may not hold separate large, mid and small cap funds. Pitch your strategy as a complement to the whole US core, not as a replacement for one size segment.
-
Find the systematic buyers. The 113 RIAs in Dimensional and Avantis all-cap funds write the largest tickets in the category. They are the first call for factor and quant equity managers, and the toughest benchmark for traditional active ones.
-
Target the 92 RIAs blending index and factor. RIAs holding both VTI and a systematic fund have already shown they’ll add a second approach beside a passive core. They are a natural audience for active and alternative equity strategies.
Turn 13F Holdings Into a Prospect List
Every number in this post came from the 13F tab in Dakota Marketplace. Members filter 2,621,000+ holdings by account name, investment strategy, ticker, asset class, sub-asset class, product structure, fund balance range and filing period, and switch between a By Investor and a By Fund view.
Seven new fields make the data faster to act on:
- Quarter-over-quarter change on any holding: Previous No. of Shares, Previous Quarter Value and Status (New, Increased, Decreased, Equal Shares or Sold-Out) show who is adding or trimming a position, with no filing to open and no math to do.
- ETF exposure on every account: ETF AUM, ETF AUM %, Active ETF AUM and Passive ETF AUM answer "does this RIA use ETFs, and how much?" right on the account page.
That gives investment firms three ways to build a sharper list:
-
Find who holds a competitor's fund. Search a ticker and pull every firm reporting it.
-
Spot momentum. Filter by Status to see which RIAs bought or added to a position last quarter, and which sold out.
-
Target real holdings, not stated mandates. An RIA that leans active in its ETF book is a very different conversation than one that runs almost entirely passive.
Members can now build and save their own 13F lists with Create a List and My Lists, then export any list to Excel to share or print.
Find the RIAs Behind the Holdings
Dakota Marketplace tracks 8,700+ RIAs and 48,300+ RIA contacts, with 13F holdings attached to each firm profile. Filter by ETF ticker or asset class held, by RIA AUM, by metro area, or by decision-maker title such as CIO or portfolio manager.
Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace to know what an RIA already owns before you pitch what it should add.
