ETF Inflows & Outflows
Performance Leaders & Laggards
Source: ETF Action; flows and performance data as of 12/19/24; performance data excludes leveraged and inverse products
Weekly ETF Reads
UConn’s Endowment Is Abandoning Hedge Funds for New Kind of ETF by Emily Graffeo
“The UConn Foundation sold almost all of its hedge fund exposure during the most recent fiscal year and bought so-called buffer ETFs.”
Good News for ETF Investors: Capital Gains Distributions Remain Low by Brendan McCann
“Less than 4% of the ETFs we surveyed are projected to distribute capital gains this year.”
What Makes an ETF Successful? by Kiplinger Staff
“Bond ETF launches have been more successful over the decade, with 50% reaching the $100 million viability threshold, compared with 36% for stock-focused ETFs.”
ETFs will pass mutual funds in RIA portfolios by 2026, revealing a problem — too few wholesalers trained for ETFs, Cerulli reports by Brooke Southall
“The decision to add ETF wholesalers is a chicken-and-egg conundrum. RIAs don’t want to buy ETFs without support and asset managers want RIA assets to justify staff expenses.”
Active ETFs will transform model portfolios, says BlackRock CFO by Daniel Gil
“Advisers reported 39 per cent of assets under management were in models, up from 32 per cent just three years ago.”
Mutual Fund Conversions Hit Record in ETF Industry’s Epic Year by Isabelle Lee
“Bank of America Corp. strategists foresee about 400 mutual funds with over $325 billion in total assets that are ripe for ETF conversions”
Active Fixed Income ETF Demand Looks Strong for ’25 by Todd Rosenbluth
“Asset managers continue to bring their best and brightest fixed income experts into the ETF market.”
(Note: Catch my conversation with VettaFi’s Todd Rosenbluth on last week’s ETF Prime, where we discussed active fixed income ETF demand and how advisors are viewing financial markets heading into the new year. Morningstar’s Ben Johnson also joined me to recap the year in ETFs and look ahead to 2025.)
SEC approves first spot Bitcoin and Ethereum combo ETFs from Hashdex and Franklin Templeton by James Hunt
“Franklin’s fund would also be able to add further cryptocurrencies should they be given regulatory approval in the future.”
Bitcoin Went Mainstream in 2024. Are Ether, Solana and Other Risky Tokens Next? by Vicky Ge Huang
“Even if regulators approve their launch, analysts question whether demand exists for such products.”
ETF Post of the Week
With “crypto-friendly” Paul Atkins set to succeed Gary Gensler as SEC Chairman, speculation has grown about the agency’s future stance on crypto ETFs. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, often dubbed “crypto mom”, offered a nice window into how the mindset could shift…
BREAKING: SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce previews new pro-crypto changes coming to the SEC
— Coinage (@coinage_media) December 20, 2024
ETF in-kind redemptions and ability for ETF issuers to begin staking likely done "early on"
Both ETFs now have more than $100B in AUM pic.twitter.com/g3jtbuBeWU
ETF Chart of the Week
2024 was a record year for ETF launches, with more than 700 new products coming to market. Meanwhile, nearly 200 ETFs closed up shop. The takeaway? I couldn’t have summarized it better than Bloomberg ETF analyst Athanasios Psarofagis:
“The barriers to entry have never been lower, but the barriers to success have never been higher.”
