As 2025 comes to a close, the ETF industry has plenty to wrap. From consolidation and the evolving implications of ETF share class to the growing impact of AI and the rapid expansion of crypto and tokenized exposure, this year reshaped how products are built, positioned, and marketed. In this end-of-year edition of The ETF Marketing Memo, we break down the trends that defined 2025—and what they may signal for 2026.
We also sit down with Citywire’s Tania Mitra to discuss the key sources of ETF growth this year, the state of active ETF adoption, and the questions firms are weighing as ETF share class continues to take shape. And with crypto ETPs emerging as one of 2025’s biggest themes, we highlight the launch of Canary Capital’s XRPC ETF as a case study in navigating this fast-evolving market.
As always, our goal is to help you stay ahead of what’s next and keep your ETF brand top of mind. Don’t miss an issue—subscribe today.
The Gregory Team’s 2026 ETF Predictions
By Mark Grandstaff, Director of Content Strategy
2025 was a huge year for the ETF industry, surpassing $1.3 trillion inflows. While no one can see what the future holds, our immersion in this space means we have a clear view of the trends at work, and which are likely to persist well into 2026.
I asked my colleagues Caitlyn Kardish, Paige Sullivan, Kathleen Elicker and Klaudia Wierzbowska what they foresee for the year to come, and what it means for ETF marketers.
The big one, of course, is consolidation. Goldman Sachs acquiring Innovator Capital Management for $2 billion underscores the reality that the ETF market has hit a saturation point. A lack of demand isn’t a problem. There is an incredible hunger for exchange-traded products. But there are too many products competing for limited pools of attention and assets.
Bigger players like Goldman Sachs want durable product lines. Specialized issuers are attractive to buyers, because it is less expensive to acquire this expertise than to build it from scratch. And acquirers have larger war chests to both market their funds and adapt to investor demand.
On the subject of following investor demand, expect more mutual fund giants to move upstream with ETF products. More than 30 funds have converted into ETFs in 2025, and earlier this month J.P. Morgan Asset Management announced plans to convert several of its mutual funds to ETFs in the new year.
Mutual funds still play a vital role, but large mutual fund managers are also adapting to the overwhelming investor demand for ETFs. Expect a mix of both to continue in the new year.
That said, not every strategy belongs in an ETF wrapper. In 2026, you can expect to see a stronger focus on alignment between fund purpose and structure. Repackaging an existing fund or SMA is not enough to guarantee investor interest in a market this crowded. Some strategies translate very well to an exchange-traded product. Others will struggle to find their audience.
It is incumbent on issuers and their marketing teams to clearly articulate the investor problem that each fund is meant to solve. What is the purpose of your fund? How does its structure support that purpose and create value for the investor? How does it stand apart from similar solutions? These are the questions issuers will be increasingly pressed to answer in the months to come.
Changing distribution realities are also shaping how issuers think about product strategy. Major broker-dealer platforms require long track records of performance, meaningful sums of managed assets, and sustained volume. For many issuers, these are demanding thresholds to clear.
As a consequence, we expect retail investors and independent RIAs will play a bigger role in the early life cycle of an ETF. Issuers and marketers will be called on to answer how their products benefit individual investors, as well as independent financial advisors trying to serve customized, differentiated investment solutions to their clients. Success in this realm increases the possibility of gatekeepers allowing your funds into large-scale distribution platforms.
The bar to succeed is high, and we don’t expect it will be any easier in 2026. A novel ticker name and a splashy launch won’t have the same impact it might have 10 or even 5 years ago. Scale, strategy, and discipline matter more than ever. Marketing leaders who embrace this reality will position their firms for the greatest chance of sustainable success.
Q&A with Tania Mitra, Reporter at Citywire USA
By Abbie Sternberg, Account Coordinator
We recently spoke with Citywire reporter Tania Mitra about the factors supporting ETF flows this year and the shifts she is seeing in advisor demand. Her ongoing conversations with ETF issuers and the asset management industry more broadly give her a clear view of how firms are approaching product selection and where interest is building.
In this Q&A, Tania outlines the sources of ETF growth in 2025, the direction of active ETF adoption, and the questions surrounding ETF share class as firms prepare for 2026. She also points to the developments she plans to track as new products continue to reach the market.
ETF flows remained strong through 2025. In your view, what is driving that demand, and what are your expectations for 2026?
I think there’s two things that’s driving ETF demand. First, the exodus from mutual funds continues and ETFs only grow stronger as the vehicle of choice for investors. We see this represented in the flows: YTD ETFs have taken in $1 trillion+ while investors have pulled $553 billion from mutual funds. Second, simply, market returns. Despite the concentration and jitters in the market more recently, AI and tech have overall propelled returns and there’s been a consistent rally over the last couple years.
I think ETFs will continue to dominate in 2026. The projected 14% gain in the S&P 500 and the Fed’s easing policy should have a positive effect on flows. VOO will keep collecting money and the innovation happening in the space should make things interesting too.
Active ETFs continued to gain traction with advisors and platforms. Do you expect that to continue into next year? Are there other areas/themes/sectors you’re eyeing?
Yes, 100%. I regularly speak with gatekeepers at the wirehouses and banks and they’re all prioritising onboarding active ETFs, so adoption will only continue.
I will be keeping an eye on where active ETF flows are going- which asset classes and firms. So far, income generating categories like derivative income and defined outcome have drawn investors. I’ll be curious to see if there’s a pivot to the “building block,” pure stock picking asset classes, especially if ETF share classes get tacked on to traditional active mutual funds.
I’ll definitely be tracking all the new products that come out as well, whether they’re some iteration of a 3x leveraged ETF/crypto/private assets in ETFs and whatever else asset managers come up with!
Share-class approval has been a major topic this year. What questions or concerns are you hearing most often about how share-class structures might reshape product development and distribution in 2026?
I don’t think it’s going to be an influx of 10,000 ETFs in one go. My understanding is that asset managers are going to be strategic about which funds they apply this to, and in a manner that will not lead to tax contagion for the ETF share class. I think standalone ETFs still get launched and there will still be conversions as well.
On the distribution front, I think wealth platforms are still figuring out how they’re going to facilitate ETF share classes. The biggest concern is switching between a mutual fund and ETF share classes, which I think they’re still trying to solve for. I do think there is a gap between asset managers’ and wealth platforms’ readiness in making this work.
The other thing I’m personally interested in is how ETF share classes will impact the economics of the wealth platforms and how revenue sharing will evolve, since ETFs don’t have 12b-1 fees. Some firms have already started charging revenue share for ETFs…I’m sure share classes will not be left behind.
What do you look for when covering ETFs and the industry more broadly?
Well, I think any journalist is looking for an anomaly so I’m always looking at innovation in the space, if an ETF or category suddenly sparked investor interest and so on.
I also learn a lot about ETFs (and the industry) from how investors respond. This is often just seen in the flows but talking to the wealth platforms also shows me where they’re at and what their priorities are. That helps me bridge the gap between product development on the asset management side and actual portfolio usage/application.
Anything else to add?
If you’re tracking an ETF trend/product that isn’t being talked about enough or have a tip, e-mail me at [email protected]!
ETF Storytelling Success: Canary Capital’s XRPC ETF Launch
By Klaudia Wierzbowska, Account Director
In 2025, demand for cryptocurrency ETFs surged as regulatory clarity improved and investor appetite for digital assets expanded. Against this backdrop, Canary Capital tapped Gregory to lead its PR efforts surrounding the highly anticipated launch of an XRP ETF.
The timing could not have been stronger. Industry speculation around an XRP ETF had reached a peak, creating significant investor and media momentum leading into the debut. Earlier in the month, Canary had also seen the successful launches of two other spot digital asset funds: the Canary HBAR ETF (Nasdaq: HBR), the first U.S. ETF offering exposure to the Hedera network’s native token and the Canary Litecoin ETF (Nasdaq: LTCC), the only U.S. ETF giving investors access to the long-standing Litecoin network.
That momentum translated into exceptional results. On November 14, Canary Capital launched the Canary XRP ETF (Nasdaq: XRPC) and saw record-breaking performance with the highest first-day trading volume of any ETF in 2025, reaching $58.5 million in volume and closing its first session with approximately $250 million in AUM.
Gregory launched an aggressive media campaign that tapped directly into the growing mainstream enthusiasm for digital assets and a friendlier regulatory climate. The team activated multiple proactive initiatives simultaneously, issuing launch and performance news, driving rapid response commentary, and putting CEO Steven McClurg front and center in a fast-paced media sprint. The payoff was immediate: coverage across 20 national and trade media outlets reaching more than 250 million monthly readers, with placements in CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, ETF Express, The Daily Upside, and CoinDesk, among other leading crypto trades. Altogether, the campaign generated 48 earned media hits that cemented Canary Capital’s standing as a true innovator reshaping the digital asset ETF landscape.