Pivot. Pivot! PIVOT!

That’s not just what Ross screamed as he, Chandler and Rachel tried to haul a couch up a tight staircase in an episode of Friends. It’s also a niche strategy in the ETF world.

Moving from one asset to another in response to market conditions isn’t new, but its use inside ETFs remains relatively uncommon. Alongside buffer ETFs and low-volatility funds, trend-following products fit into broader risk-management strategies. Clients give up some upside in exchange for a measure of downside protection by shifting into more defensive assets when markets slip. There are some 32 trend-following ETFs now trading on US exchanges with total assets under management of $3.5 billion, per etf.com data. As advisors…