THE VIEW
ETF issuance keeps setting records while the Fed decides today whether to stay on hold. Year-to-date launches have already passed the 2025 full-year record, so a new fund now competes with more than a thousand same-year peers for advisor attention. Flows are concentrating in semiconductors and leveraged products, and the distribution winners will be the issuers who can explain where a fund fits in a portfolio, not just what it holds.
ETF launches surpass last year’s record with months to spare
ETF Db counts 1,159 new exchange-traded products year to date, past the 2025 full-year record of 1,143. Shelf space and advisor attention are now the scarce resources, not product.
Active equity ETFs out-gathered passive in September
First Trust data show $33.0 billion into active equity ETFs versus $31.8 billion for passive, with active now at $1.25 trillion, or 9.9% of equity ETF assets. Active managers have real momentum in the wrapper, and the message advisors need is why the active process earns its fee.
Semiconductors and leveraged ETFs dominate recent flows
Leveraged products took in about $5.0 billion in the period tracked while U.S. equity funds saw roughly $3.1 billion of net outflows. Risk appetite is running through tactical wrappers, which is useful context for any issuer pitching core exposure this quarter.
VanEck launches an all-in-one ETF combining stocks, bonds, gold and bitcoin (WBMO)
One-ticket multi-asset wrappers target model-portfolio and self-directed buyers. Issuers with single-sleeve funds should expect to be compared against an allocation, not just a category peer.
Fed decision today: a hold is priced, the press conference is not
The FOMC is expected to hold at 3.75% to 4% at 2 p.m. ET after September’s hike. Chair Warsh’s tone on December will steer rate-sensitive flows into fixed income and income ETFs heading into year-end.