ETF Inflows & Outflows
Performance Leaders & Laggards
Source: ETF Action; flows and performance data as of 10/2/25; performance data excludes leveraged and inverse products
Weekly ETF Reads
Vanguard Rivals Finally Get Hands On Its Tax-Busting Fund Design by Emily Graffeo and Loukia Gyftopoulou
“It’s like sitting on a bunch of CDs and here’s a chance to convert them all into digital.”
ETF Share Classes Are a Go for Dimensional: Here’s What Investors Need to Know by Daniel Sotiroff and Bryan Armour
“Approval of ETF share classes is potentially game-changing for the fund industry, but it may take time to see the fruits of their labor.”
(Note: Law firm K&L Gates offers a deeper dive into some key considerations for fund companies pursuing the multi-share class structure here.)
Active Stock Fund Managers Have Got a Deal for You. Should You Take It? by Jeffrey Ptak
“Under pressure from outflows, active managers are in a race to launch exchange-traded fund versions of strategies many already offer as traditional mutual funds.”
More Seasoned Asset Managers Pivot to ETFs as Institutional Opportunities Thin Out by James Comtois
“It is the fastest-growing part of the asset management business, so it’s hard to ignore.”
ETFs that protect against ‘painful’ stock-market drops are attracting worried investors by Christine Idzelis
“Investors generally seem to be favoring buffer strategies over low-volatility ETFs when looking for ways to be more defensive.”
Is Vanguard Coming Around to Crypto ETFs? by Emile Hallez
“We continuously evaluate our brokerage offer, investor preferences and the evolving regulatory environment.”
Upcoming ETFs, evolving indexes to mark new chapter for crypto investing by Ben Strack
“There’s a chance that in five to 10 years from now, this index could have 20, 50, 100 or 200 assets.”
Crypto ETFs were ready to launch, then the US government shut down — here’s what could happen next by Sarah Wynn
“Brutal.”
Crypto ETFs: Adoption Trends Continue by Roxanna Islam
“The number of new product launches shows that ETF issuers are leaning in.”
ETF Post of the Week
Last week, one of the year’s biggest ETF developments unfolded – and it could reshape how trillions of dollars are invested. The SEC signaled it will approve Dimensional’s ETF share class structure, allowing them to offer ETF shares of their existing mutual funds. This move, long awaited by the industry, could be a watershed moment for fund structure flexibility.
“Since filing for exemptive relief in July of 2023, Dimensional, the largest active ETF issuer in the US, has consistently advocated for the benefits that the share class structure could provide both mutual fund-class and ETF-class shareholders. Mutual fund-class shareholders could benefit through lower transaction costs and greater tax efficiency, while ETF-class shareholders could also benefit from more efficient rebalancing using mutual fund cash flows and lower total portfolio transaction costs, among other benefits of scale passed along to both sets of investors.”
Nearly 80 other fund companies are pursuing similar structures, some even aiming to offer mutual fund share classes of existing ETFs. If they align with Dimensional’s filing, the SEC looks ready to approve them too.
Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas sums it up perfectly:
“This is one of those things that sounds wonky but has potentially massive implications as millions of investors with trillions in assets sitting in mutual funds will now be able to access an ETF version of that strategy. While there are some operational hurdles still, we see this as a new tributary of flows into ETFs.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Here is the moment some of us have been waiting for…
— Ben Johnson, CFA (@MstarBenJohnson) September 29, 2025
The SEC has given DFA the green light for ETF share classes for its mutual funds.https://t.co/awCknCJTL6
ETF Chart of the Week
ETF inflows appear set to eclipse $1 trillion any day now. State Street’s Matt Bartolini:
“After taking in $149 billion in September (second most all-time), US-listed ETFs now have over $946 billion in inflows so far this year—just shy of the $1 trillion mark. Based on this current pace, ETFs could top $1 trillion by October 15. Mark it down.”
Just how impressive would this be? Bartolini:
“October 15 would be the fastest ETFs ever reached $1 trillion in calendar-year flows. Far outpacing the feat from 2024, when they hit $1 trillion on December 11. And by extrapolating the current daily average, ETF inflows could reach a record $1.27 trillion by the end of the year. Accounting for the typical seasonal boost seen in November/December—stemming from a variety tax, derivative, and behavioral factors—2025’s total could reach $1.35 trillion.”
Impressive indeed.
Source: State Street’s Matt Bartolini
ETF Prime Podcast
Last week’s ETF Prime featured Will Rhind, Founder & CEO of GraniteShares, diving into their YieldBOOST lineup of ETFs and offering perspective on the growing demand for options-based ETF strategies overall. Zeno Mercer, Senior Research Analyst at VettaFi, broke down one of the hottest segments in the market: artificial intelligence ETFs. He covered fund flows, performance trends, and the key drivers behind investor interest.
Crypto Prime Podcast
Jean-Marie Mognetti, Co-Founder & CEO of CoinShares, joined me on last week’s Crypto Prime to discuss the firm’s strategy in digital asset management, the shifting regulatory landscape and its impact on spot crypto ETFs, and the growing role of crypto in a diversified investment portfolio.
