2025 capped off another strong year for fixed income ETFs, as ongoing market uncertainty pushed more investors into the safe confines of bonds. When it came to inflows, it was Vanguard that was well-represented with four funds cracking the top 10.

While stablecoins are a form of tokenization, tokenization is a broader concept than stablecoins. Tokenization is the process of creating and recording a digital representation of traditional assets (e.g., securities, deposits, real estate, commodities, etc.) so ownership and transfer can happen in more automated, accessible ways.

There’s a lot of collective wisdom about the challenge of forecasting markets and the economy. Warren Buffet once famously said: “”Forecasts may tell you a great deal about the forecaster; they tell you nothing about the future.”

VanEck’s muni bond ETF kept all 49 holdings intact during its fourth quarter rebalance but executed an internal rotation favoring higher-yielding funds over investment-grade names, according to index data from VettaFi.

ETFs have come on in leaps and bounds since the ETF rule arrived in 2019. Exchange-traded funds are taking a bigger and bigger role in the investment landscape, offering a different route into many strategies compared to mutual funds.

Canada’s strong showing was part of a broader global rotation away from U.S. mega-cap technology stocks and into international “value” markets.

Nuclear power tends to be attractive for its reliability, longevity, and emission free-power generation. Despite these benefits, nuclear energy represents a relatively small portion of worldwide power generation. In 2024, nuclear accounted for 9% of the global electricity mix.

In late December, I attended the Direxion Investments opening bell ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange. In October 2025, Direxion launched a new family of ETFs into their ever-growing roster of leveraged and inverse funds: the Titans ETFs.

Investors and advisors have numerous goals to meet with their portfolios. Some investors full send their portfolios to produce as much capital appreciation as possible. Others, especially those at or near retirement age, look for current income and ballast to steady their financial ships.

The most-read practice management articles of the year touch on topics ranging from helping clients retiring early get suitable health insurance to dealing with conflicting political views held by clients or colleagues.

Thematic ETF assets climbed 49.6% through the first 11 months of 2025, reaching $467.93 billion by the end of November, according to research from ETFGI.

In 2025, Advisor Perspectives’ most-read commentaries mainly centered on uncertainty around U.S. equities and on record-high valuations, in particular. Key themes included the bleak forecast for U.S. equities and the opportunities presented by non-U.S. stocks. Other articles weighed in on the risks around private equity that await retail investors delving into the space and on the investment potential of utilities due to AI and the shift to clean energy.

Retirement dominated 2025’s top articles, featuring insights from William Bernstein and Allan Roth among others. Key highlights include critiques of retirement calculators, Vanguard’s expectations for the next decade, Roth IRA strategies, and the nuances of dividend investing for long-term portfolios.

Plenty of headlines were written as the One Big Beautiful Big Bill Act (OBBBA) made its way through U.S. Congressional debates earlier this year. For the advisor community, many were likely wondering how the OBBBA would affect their portfolio strategies. To be more specific, which investing themes could be boosted by this U.S. policy maneuver?

As the dollar weakens and the migration to international equities continues, investors might still be on the fence when it comes to getting exposure.

Barring a miracle, bitcoin will end 2025 in the red, marking just the fourth time the largest cryptocurrency has done so in its history.

2025 is drawing to a close, and investors have plenty to look back on. Active ETF performance and proliferation was once again an important theme, and as the category matures, its standout performers have diversified.

While often overlooked, water management plays an important role in oil and gas production. Oil wells typically produce more water than oil, while hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) requires water to be pumped into wells. Water infrastructure related to oil and gas production is considered midstream and is classified within gathering and processing.

While assets under management have grown modestly, the fund’s impressive Sharpe and Information ratios—outperforming the vast majority of its peers—validate the efficacy of its strategic partnership with Apollo.

AI’s third wave could represent a broadening opportunity set of companies for investors to capitalize with. Businesses that adopt AI into their operations could ramp up productivity and expand their valuations at a rapid pace.

The era of "easy" yield in money market funds is ending as the Federal Reserve begins its long-awaited series of rate cuts. To stay ahead of shifting borrowing costs, investors are increasingly looking toward the flexibility and proprietary research of actively managed fixed income ETFs.

In the world of exchange-traded funds, some investors tend to look at index-based ETFs as static alternatives to the more flexible active funds. However, that is not necessarily the case. Index-based funds do move their assets around, particularly when their underlying indexes rebalance at points throughout the year.

This year’s research highlights a clear investor preference for high-conviction themes like crypto, global defense, and commodities, which dominated both inflows and market discourse.

LPL Financial explores trending retirement policy shifts topics, including Trump Accounts and private equity’s expanding role in 401(k)s.

Coming into 2025, amid a debate about concentration and lofty valuations in the largest of large-cap stocks, as well as concerns about macro uncertainty and economic conditions, we collectively called for diversification. That diversification, among other things, singled out the opportunity in small-caps.

Preparing for the new year? It helps to look back on the big stories in fund management that can inform plans for 2026.

Cannabis stocks soared on Friday following news that U.S. president Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order as soon as Monday that would ultimately ease federal restrictions on marijuana.

Looking to add exposure to the Nasdaq? The key market index, with its heavy focus on the information technology sector, can help investors lean more into some key growth-oriented firms in the U.S. and global economy.

Once considered a tactical niche product for nervous investors, buffer ETFs are reshaping how financial advisors approach risk management.

In their latest SPIVA report, S&P discussed the underperformance of active funds relative to index blends across various assets.

With Elon Musk’s SpaceX eyeing an initial public offering that could value the company at over $1 trillion, investors looking for exposure to the space industry can turn to a space ETF that has already delivered outsized returns in 2025.

The launch of multi-token crypto products (i.e., crypto index ETFs) signals that many issuers believe the next growth phase in crypto ETFs will be driven by investors who want a rules-based basket approach rather than single asset calls.

Growth, growth, and more growth — that’s been the common refrain in the current market environment. However, peeking from behind the curtains is the quality factor. While it has yet to receive the full spotlight in 2025 relative to growth, it’s due for a breakout performance (potentially in 2026).

Active fixed income ETFs took center stage at VettaFi's recent 2026 Market Outlook Symposium, with two industry leaders sharing thoughts.

Join us for our 2026 Market Outlook Symposium, where our panelists will tackle all of these topics and shed light on top strategies aimed at helping your clients reach their financial goals

This focus on payout growth and a relatively higher tech allocation suggests OUSA may be well-positioned for performance in 2026, even as corporations globally favor share buybacks over dividend payments.

Amidst geopolitical tensions, global defense has become one of the most persistent and outperforming investment themes in 2025, even in the absence of a major crisis. Investors are increasingly diversifying into international defense markets through new and existing ETFs, recognizing the exposure to rising non-U.S. military budgets and the resilience of long-term contracts.

When developing research strategies to achieve positive alpha, there are typically two methodologies: quantitative and fundamental. Discerning investors who have a predilection for one or the other no longer have to choose with the MFS Blended Research Core Equity ETF (BRCE) and the MFS Blended Research International Equity ETF (BRIE).

For fixed-income investors seeking diversification, Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS), specifically the VMBS ETF, are presented as a high-quality alternative to potentially overvalued corporate bonds, particularly those fueling the AI boom.

The Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) is now close to modernization as it seeks proxy votes from shareholders to approve a reclassification.

Investor appetites for international equities could continue after the Fed implemented a second rate cut. Investors looking to get international equities exposure would be wise to consider using an actively managed fund like the MFS Active International ETF (MFSI) .

Given the relatively mixed signals that the U.S. stock market is seeing in the months ahead, some sectors of the global market could compel.

The year 2025 has been a "baffling" year for markets, with surprising outcomes like gold and silver surging while stocks rose despite global conflicts, proving that "macro is hard."

Indexed ETFs can provide an easy, cost-effective alternative for fixed income exposure that draws from myriad sources. However, investors could be missing out on the advantages associated with active management. Given the current macro environment, it’s almost a necessity.

State Street Investment Management (SSIM) has been the investment advisor for the Select Sector SPDR ETFs since 1998. It will now take over the distribution and marketing for these funds. The move brings 11 ETFs in-house under the SSIM umbrella to unify its product offerings and enhance the investor experience.

Following a rocky start to the year, the municipal bond market has shown strong performance in Q3 2025, outperforming broader bond indexes due to factors like easing oversupply and growing demand.

Despite the "America First" focus of the current administration, international markets, particularly emerging markets (EM), have outperformed domestic financial markets. This surprising trend is highlighted by the strong performance of EM debt and equities, driven primarily by U.S. dollar weakness and corresponding monetary easing by EM central banks.

This month, the global investment community is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the world’s first fixed income ETFs, the iShares Core Canadian Short Term Bond Index ETF (XSB) and the iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF (XBB).

This impressive performance, fueled largely by the prominent allocation to the "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks, highlights the strong adoption of ETFs and VOO's role as the premier choice for U.S. equity exposure amidst a challenging macro environment. This success helped the entire ETF industry surpass its previous trillion-dollar record.

This article argues that a grateful mindset is a powerful strategy for improving financial and investment decision-making, citing research that links gratitude to better outcomes and overall well-being.