ETF Inflows & Outflows
Performance Leaders & Laggards
Source: ETF Action; flows and performance data as of 7/24/25; performance data excludes leveraged and inverse products
Weekly ETF Reads
‘Black Holes for Capital Gains’: New Tax Trick Takes Off in ETFs by Justina Lee
“In short, it’s a deferral — or an interest-free loan from the government, as Vanguard Group founder Jack Bogle once put it.”
Why Some RIAs Have Launched Their Own ETFs by Elaine Misonzhnik
“Most of the folks we speak to are traditional wealth managers/RIAs who recognize that the value of their business goes up when they have an ETF vs. just separately managed accounts.”
(Note: An excellent example of an ETF using a Section 351 exchange, as referenced in this article, is the Alpha Architect U.S. Equity ETF (AAUS), which launched last week with nearly $445 million in assets.)
Asset managers launch active ETFs at record pace by Steve Johnson
“We consider 2025 as the year of active ETFs.”
Fine Print: ETFs Born in Banner Year May Lack Staying Power by Griffin Kelly
“As the space gets saturated, only a relative few will likely see sustained success.”
Digging for Gold With ETFs by Bryan Armour
“Gold ETFs have played an expanding role in how investors access gold.”
Hedge funds are operating inside ETFs, with some big risks and potential benefits for investors by Meredith Mutter
“The idea of most of these strategies is you’re going to get uncorrelated, diversified returns.”
(Note: Bob Elliott, Co-Founder and CEO of Unlimited, will be joining me on next week’s ETF Prime to go in-depth on hedge fund replication ETFs.)
Simplify’s Sticky Fingers by Dave Nadig
“Funds owning other funds by the same issuer isn’t a new idea, and this issue of how to account for the cascading fee effects is an old one.”
NYSE Texas Lists First ETFs With Strive Asset Management by Mallika Mitra
“Separately, the Texas stock exchange is planning to launch in early 2026 as more financial firms establish new operations on so-called Y’all Street.”
‘Bizarre Situation’: SEC Halts Conversion for Another ETF Holding Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP by Vince Dioquino
“The twin reversals have unsettled crypto ETF observers.”
ETF Post of the Week
Spot ether ETFs continued their momentum last week, celebrating their one-year anniversary with nearly $1.9 billion in total inflows. The category has now posted a 16-day inflow streak, bringing in more than $5 billion in new money.
Leading the way is the iShares Ethereum ETF (ETHA), which has already surpassed $10 billion in assets – making it the third-fastest ETF ever to reach that milestone.
The only ETFs to get there faster? Both were spot bitcoin ETFs.
In other words, in an industry more than three decades old and home to nearly 4,400 funds, the three fastest ETFs to $10 billion in AUM are all crypto-related.
LOOK OUT: $ETHA just hit $10b in one year flat, the 3rd fastest ETF to hit that mark in history after (you guessed it) two bitcoin ETFs $IBIT & $FBTC. Amazingly it went from $5b to $10b in just 10 days (ETF asset equiv of a God candle). Is in Top 5 in flows 1M, 1W. Sister Hazel! pic.twitter.com/Jrrb15BdHV
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) July 24, 2025
ETF Chart of the Week
The number of U.S.-listed ETFs has officially surpassed the number of U.S.-listed stocks. This crossover is the result of two long-term trends: the explosive growth of ETFs and the fact that more companies are choosing to stay private.
At first glance, some investors might see this as a sign that there are “too many” ETFs. But no one is sounding an alarm about the nearly 7,000 mutual funds.
Not only that, but Morningstar’s Ben Johnson is here to remind you of the following:
“There are more colors than primary colors.
There are more books than words.
If brown rice is factored in, there are >115,200 Chipotle menu combinations.“
You get the idea.
Source: Morningstar’s Ben Johnson
ETF Prime Podcast
Last week’s ETF Prime featured Matt Bartolini, Head of Americas ETF Research at State Street Global Advisors, sharing insights on recent market trends through the lens of key SPDR ETFs and highlighting new launches, including the SPDR SSGA IG Public & Private Credit ETF (PRIV). Roxanna Islam, Head of Sector & Industry Research at VettaFi, provided the latest updates from the world of crypto ETFs, covering fund flows, recent launches, and the status of SEC filings (nice recap here).
ETF Pulse
On last week’s episode of ETF Pulse, I joined etf.com Editor-in-Chief Kristin Myers to discuss a new filing for an Arctic Circle ETF, a proxy vote aimed at boosting Invesco’s bottom line for the QQQ ETF, and a whirlwind week in crypto ETFs.
Crypto Prime Podcast
What are the benefits of bringing real-world assets on-chain? Michael Sonnenshein, President of Securitize, joined me on last week’s Crypto Prime to break it down and share how tokenized securities could reshape the future of finance.
