Advisors and investors showed strong interest in actively managed ETFs and municipal bond products in June according to VettaFi sentiment. While industrywide flows strong support the former, we think the latter is similarly compelling.
My colleague Kirsten Chang recently reported on the record pace for ETF flows halfway through the year. ETFs gathered approximately $560 billion year-to-date through June including over $100 billion in June alone. Notably, actively managed ETFs represented nearly 40% of the net inflows gathered industrywide.
Affordable Active ETFs Grab Attention
On our platform, education about actively managed ETFs resonated particularly well. We host a content hub in partnership with T. Rowe Price. In mid-June, an article by Karrie Gordon truly stood out for its viewership. Titled Active Benefits at Competitive Prices, it noted that the number of active ETFs available had doubled since 2020, now surpassing passively managed products.
Crucially, Gordon explained that some firms like T Rowe Price were using their scale to offer affordable active ETFs. The article noted how T. Rowe Price QM U.S. Bond ETF (TAGG) sought to outperform the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index with differentiated sector weights. The $1.4 billion TAGG has a management fee of 0.08%. Similarly, the firm’s largest ETF, the T. Rowe Capital Appreciation Equity ETF (TCAF) charged a modest 0.31% fee. The nearly $5 billion ETF takes a growth-at-a-reasonable price to large caps.
Separately, active ETF content our ETF Investing Fidelity content hub also proved popular. Elle Fitzgerald’s piece about Fidelity’s new managed futures ETF garnered significant attention. The Fidelity Managed Futures ETF (FFUT) launched in early June and already crossed the key $100 million milestone by month end.
Munis Take Bronze in Advisor Poll, Gold in Reader Interest
VettaFi hosted a Midyear Market Outlook Symposium in late June, where we polled advisor attendees about their most appealing fixed income style.
Advisors and investors showed strong interest in actively managed ETFs and municipal bond products in June according to VettaFi sentiment. While industrywide flows strong support the former, we think the latter is similarly compelling.
While municipal bonds ranked third behind investment-grade corporate bonds and short-term Treasuries in our advisor poll, they were the subject of the two most popular articles on our Fixed Income content hub in June.
“An Easy Way to Get Muni Exposure as Issuance Rose in May” spotlighted the Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VTEB). VTEB offers broad muni exposure for an extremely low 0.03% fee. Meanwhile, “As Munis See Increased Issuance, Here’s An Active Choice” focused on the Vanguard Core Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VCRM). VCRM launched in late 2024 and has a still-low 0.12% expense ratio.
For more news, information, and analysis, visit VettaFi | ETF Trends.
