How Advisors Are Tapping New ETF Strategies in 2026
Forget back-testing; all the new ETFs launched this year may need taste-testing first.
The ETF industry threw spaghetti at the wall in 2025, unleashing a wave of new funds, and leaving advisors wondering which ones were the perfect al dente. Nearly 800 new exchange-traded funds hit the market in the first three quarters of 2025, blowing past the 746 that debuted in all of 2024. With more than $1.4 trillion in global ETF flows this year, trading volumes hit nearly $60 trillion in the US alone. Advisors now find themselves staring at an ETF menu bigger than the Olive Garden’s, including crypto-linked funds, leveraged and single-stock strategies, defined outcome products, and an ever-growing lineup of active fixed-income.
But if…
