ETF Inflows & Outflows
Performance Leaders & Laggards
Source: ETF Action; flows and performance data as of 10/16/25; performance data excludes leveraged and inverse products
Weekly ETF Reads
ETF Inflows Smash $1 Trillion Mark in Fastest Run on Record by Emily Graffeo
“Flows aren’t the only noteworthy metric within the industry: 2025 is also shaping up to see an unprecedented level of new annual ETF launches.”
Rapid growth of ETF market triggers fears of bubble by Suzanne McGee
“Operationally, it has never been easier to launch a new ETF, but the flip side is that having a successful launch is only getting more difficult.”
Inside the knotty economics of the world’s most profitable ETF by Steve Johnson
“A bewildering array of US sports teams, leagues and festivals have also enjoyed a QQQ windfall, thanks to the ETF’s extensive marketing — $175mn’s worth last year alone.”
5 Things to Know About 5X ETFs by Dave Nadig
“Thanks to the ETF Rule (6c11) and recent generic listing standards, as crazy as these filings may seem, they are actually ‘normal,’ and thus, if the SEC doesn’t explicitly kibosh them, they go live in 75 days.”
ETF Share Classes Are a Go for Dimensional: Here’s What Investors Need to Know by Daniel Sotiroff and Bryan Armour
“Mixing ETFs and mutual funds allows asset managers to provide investors with a single solution, regardless of their vehicle preference.”
Money-Market ETFs Have Arrived. Should You Buy One? by Debbie Carlson
“The main difference between money-market mutual funds and their ETF counterparts is that the former have a stable $1 net asset value.”
Wall Street Crams More Autocallables Into ETFs in Race for Yield by Denitsa Tsekova and Yiqin Shen
“The move is a fresh escalation of a recent trend of making complex investments easily available to any investor, and part of a race to offer exchange-traded funds with ever-higher yields.”
(Note: Next week on ETF Prime, I’ll be joined by Matt Kaufman, Head of ETFs at Calamos, for an in-depth discussion on autocallables and how they’re being used in ETFs.)
Morgan Stanley Opens Up to Crypto ETFs. Who’s Next? by Emile Hallez
“Until now, the firm had limited access to risk-happy clients with investable assets of at least $1.5 million.”
ETF Post of the Week
Last week brought one of the more unusual ETF stories in recent memory. An SEC filing revealed that two ETFs from Azoria Capital – both launched earlier this year (one less than three weeks ago) – are being liquidated. From the filing:
“After considering all relevant information, including without limitation recent litigation involving a principal of the sub-adviser, Azoria Capital LLC, the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Tidal Trust III determined that it is in the best interests of each Fund and its shareholders to liquidate and terminate each Fund as described below.”
The ETFs on the chopping block:
-Azoria 500 Meritocracy ETF (SPXM)
-Azoria Tesla Convexity ETF (TSLV)
For context on the below post from Azoria’s James Fishback, it’s important to first highlight SPXM’s investment approach. According to Azoria:
“The Azoria 500 Meritocracy ETF invests in the top 500 U.S. companies except those that impose DEI hiring targets. Why? Our premise is simple: companies that hire on skill and ability will be more successful than those that hire on race and gender.”
So what exactly led to the liquidation? That’s still murky.
Fishback is Azoria’s founder and a former employee of David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital, which previously sued him for violating his employment agreement. Interestingly, his name was floated in early August as a potential nominee to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Michael Venuto, co-founder of Tidal (the fund platform), told Reuters he was unaware of the specific reasons behind the trustees’ decision. He did add that Tidal continues to support other politically themed ETFs, including the God Bless America ETF (YALL).
In that same Reuters piece, Morningstar analyst Jeffrey Ptak commented that “this almost never happens” – referring to such abrupt ETF closures – and that while liquidation notices are typically “an exercise in boilerplate,” this one “was not.”
High drama in ETF land. Stay tuned.
As an aside, James was actually scheduled to join my ETF Prime podcast this upcoming Tuesday. Azoria has since cancelled.
BREAKING: My ETF is now facing a de-listing attempt from the stock exchange after we said that we’d stop investing in companies that replace American workers with foreign H-1Bs. I’ve asked SEC Chairman @SECPaulSAtkins to immediately halt the attempted delisting pending completion… pic.twitter.com/SGltiUvCgG
— James Fishback (@j_fishback) October 16, 2025
ETF Chart of the Week
Just over a month ago, spot bitcoin ETFs were closing in fast on physical gold ETFs. At the time, it seemed inevitable that BlackRock’s IBIT would soon surpass State Street’s GLD, the world’s largest physical gold ETF. But in a surprise turn, gold ETFs have widened the gap again – proving the shiny metal is not ready to hand over the safe-haven crown just yet.
Here’s what I wrote back then:
“While I believe bitcoin ETFs will ultimately surpass gold ETFs in assets, gold isn’t giving up the top spot easily. That’s what makes this story so interesting. Not long ago, it looked like bitcoin ETFs were a shoo-in to rocket past gold ETFs in short order. But instead of choosing one or the other, investors are plowing money into both. It feels like the market is trying to tell us something.”
Even just last week, I noted IBIT nearing $100 billion and took a bit of a victory lap – one that may have been premature.
While I still believe IBIT will eventually overtake GLD, there’s an ongoing debate about bitcoin’s role as a safe-haven asset. As Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading, told Bloomberg:
“I have never considered Bitcoin a safe haven. I have always believed it to be a speculative risk asset. Gold is an asset with a long history as a haven.”
I lean the other way. Over time, I think bitcoin will earn its stripes. As Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas put it, bitcoin is like “gold, but as a teenager” – volatile and immature, but with real safe-haven potential.
That said, gold is clearly still telling a powerful story.
Here’s how I put it in a recent commentary:
“The stellar performance of the shiny metal reflects much of what we’ve discussed above. Falling short-term interest rates typically support gold, as they reduce the opportunity cost of holding a non-yielding asset. Gold also tends to serve as an inflation hedge and a store of value. Concerns about U.S. fiscal health and the strength of the dollar? You guessed it – typically positive for gold. A slowing labor market that could challenge historically elevated stock valuations? Gold is a hedge. While the geopolitical backdrop has cooled somewhat since last quarter, particularly following the Israel-Hamas peace deal, the war between Russia and Ukraine continues. Gold can also act as a geopolitical hedge. The point is, gold is telling investors a story right now – and it’s one we’re paying close attention to.”
Obviously, other investors are paying attention too.
Source: Bloomberg’s Isabelle Lee and Sidhartha Shukla
ETF Prime Podcast
Last week’s ETF Prime featured Aakash Doshi, Global Head of Gold Strategy at State Street Investment Management, delving into the key drivers behind record-high gold prices and unprecedented inflows into gold ETFs. Todd Rosenbluth, Head of Research at VettaFi, discussed the firm’s rapidly expanding indexing business and shared his perspective on the role of thematic ETFs in today’s portfolios.
