THE ETFs JUST KEEP COMING

A new crop of exchange-traded funds ranges from plain-vanilla offerings to complex income and cryptocurrency portfolios.

- NELLIE S. HUANG

EXCHANGE-traded funds have been around for more than three decades, but if new fund launches are any clue, growth in the category is still strong.

A record 1,490 exchange-traded products opened from the start of 2025 through April 2026—bumping up the total of listed ETFs in the U.S. today to more than 5,100. And investors are piling in. More than 15 of the newly minted ETFs each have more than $1 billion in assets already. “For a new fund to get even close to $1 billion in assets in its first year is rare,” says Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at TMX VettaFi, a data research firm that focuses on ETFs. Another 25 new ETFs are well on their way to that mark, with more than $600 million in assets each.

For that reason, we’re taking a closer look at several of the new ETFs that have gathered the most interest and what their launches might portend. To be clear, this story is meant to update you on trends in the ETF industry rather than to supply specific investment recommendations. The short track record of these new funds precludes us from making a call, at least for now. That said, a few show some promise, while others seem unlikely to become Kiplinger favorites. Returns and data are through April 30 unless otherwise noted.

Old strategies, new ETF wrappers. Mutual-fund-to-ETF conversions are not new. But most have come from big fund firms, including Dimensional Fund Advisors, Fidelity and JPMorgan. Now boutique investment firms are choosing to go down this path. The trend points to the wider acceptance of ETFs as investors’ vehicle of choice.