ETF Launch Review: Good, Bad or We’ll See! – January 2026

Hi Everyone!

It’s Conor here from Outer Beach Conor and I’m back with a January 2026 launch update.

We’re looking at all of the ETF launches in the US during the month.

I’ll be putting my opinion on each launch while also singling a few funds out to take a deeper dive on and explain my reasoning.

The goal is to segment them by what version of helpful to the market I think they are.

But first, here’s a new fact.

The U.S. ETF assets reached a new record of $14T after a stellar 2025 that delivered $1.5T in net inflows. Momentum is carrying into 2026, with $171B in net inflows already recorded in January, up from $103B in January 2025.

Here are my metrics:

• 👍Good: Anything that may already exist in another form but is an honest attempt at reskinning the cat. Largely investor-positive.

• 🤔We’ll See?: May not exist yet, either as an asset type, strategy, or anything else in ETF format. Can be quite investor-positive. Requires analysis.

• 👎Bad: A fund that plays on an existing asset or strategy but without a value-add, sometimes with a value loss. Leveraged products, income products, high expense versions of existing product types with no discernible add-on. Almost always benefits the issuer instead of the investor.

Keep in mind that everything in here is just my opinion.

I’m happy to hear all challenges to my assigned ratings in the comments or via DM.

Breakdown:

For January, I ended up with the following results:

There were 85 US launches this month, down a substantial amount from December’s 134.

Our ratio of Good to Bad skewed a bit further back towards Bad compared to last month.

There has continued to be a whole ton of new filings, including the largest single day of filings I’ve seen, coming down the pipeline so I’m optimistic we’ll have plenty to talk about for February and March!

Let’s hop into the breakdown for January.

Lots of fixed income products launched in January!

I’m happy to report that the vast majority of them were Good launches!

We also had plenty of good equity and crypto products launch as well.

Global X launched a suite of US Treasury STRIPS bond ETFs starting with the Global X Zero Coupon Bond 2030 ETF (ZCBA) and running up through 2035. Low expense ratio of 7 bps.

Great to have these kind of fixed income ingredients available for retail/advisors to be able to customize their portfolios!

The average fee for a Good launch dropped to 42 bps, mostly due to the Global X suite mentioned above but continuing the trend of value products being launched.

Other funds to highlight this month, which does NOT constitute any endorsement, Simplify Chinese Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF (CCOM) launched with a 99 bps fee.

Yes, that’s pretty expensive but this is a VERY niche strategy that would be very hard to execute even outside of the ETF world.

I’ll also highlight a three-pack of thematic products, Nomura Transformational Technologies ETF (FRWD), Impax Global Infrastructure ETF (BLDX), and Roundhill Robotaxi, Autonomous Vehicles & Technology ETF (CABZ).

First off, CABZ and FRWD are fantastic tickers.

I think a great ticker can go a long way.

However, what I’d really like to highlight is that a number of funds are focusing on transformational technology and infrastructure buildouts.

There is a lot of room to run in these themes so it’ll be interesting to see which thesis ends up being the strongest.

Final hat tip to Blackrock iShares for launching iShares Mortgage-Backed Securities Active ETF (MMBA).

MBS was one of the markets I covered early in my career as an analyst so I can appreciate being able to get this kind of active exposure for 25 bps.

Fixed income is one arena where active management does have a leg up.

This month is particularly stacked with launches that I don’t want to talk about.

39 of 50 of the Bad launches are leveraged daily reset products, high income chasing products, or products where simply buying ETFs with the inputs for the funds would save you a ton on fees.

I’ll highlight one or two but the rest should just glide on by.

I’ll pick on CYBER HORNET first.

Mostly because that’s a terrific name that I’d never heard of before checking my launch list.

They’ve run some mutual funds under different names but these S&P 500/Crypto products seem like their first foray into ETFs.

The CYBER HORNET S&P 500 and Ethereum 75/25 Strategy ETF (EEE) is available for 95 bps and offers a 75% S&P 500 and 25% Crypto split as a packaged product.

I don’t have any issue with the strategy, plenty of folks want to stack crypto exposure.

My problem is that you could go buy IVV/SPYM/VOO for 2-3 bps and any of the many Ethereum ETFs on offer for 25-40 bps, saving you 75% and have you paying 25% of the fee for the exact same exposure.

Fairly egregious here, folks.

I don’t see how CYBER HORNET (also, what’s with the uppercase?!) adds 60 basis points worth of value here.

The next fund I’ll pick on is CoreValues America First Technology ETF (USMD). The thesis is fine.

Investors seeking exposure to the potential growth of infrastructure and technology as a result of an “America First” policy set in the US can use this product to do so.

The execution is… questionable.

Per the prospectus, this attempts to track an index (Solactive America First Technology Index TR).

The management team will, for 87 basis points, trade around that index a bit and attempt to generate returns.

That’s exceptionally expensive for what is just a fancied up indexed tech sector product.

We have a two entries for “We’ll See” this month.

The first entry is from Corgi Funds. Again.

If you were excited about last month’s pick, you’ll be twice as excited about this one.

Corgi Funds, which is an insurance company I think, doubled down on their inaugural product and launched the Founder-Led 2X Daily ETF (FDRX) with a 108 bps fee attached.

What is it?

It’s a daily 2x leveraged exposure to, you guessed it, their Founder-Led ETF!

The short-term performance of their initial product has been unimpressive but I’m still very hopeful that my incredible fund idea will be borne out as successful over time.

I have to dock major points for the fee. That’s expensive.

If you think this is the last one from them, fear not! They’ve filed for WELL OVER 100 NEW FUNDS in January.

They filed most of them on the same day which may be the most ever filed in the history of ETFs.

Sadly, most of them are income focused, leveraged, or otherwise redundant expensive products. Weird for an insurance company!

The second fund we’re gonna look at is the The Laddered T-Bill ETF (TLDR). First off, GREAT ticker use here. I love it. Second, this is from REX Shares!

Usually they’re at the top of my naughty list with a suite focused almost entirely on expensive leveraged, “income”, and other overpriced funds.

This is by far their cheapest offering at 20 bps and it looks like a great one!

You can get this exposure somewhat cheaper from other issuers but I’m very glad to see them dipping their toes into the normie waters. Kudos to REX Shares!

I’ll try to keep a cadence of these going every month.

If you’d like to see me take a look at anything in particular, please comment.

I’m happy to dive into any ETF product that you’d like to see.

This newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. The opinions expressed by any author or co-author are strictly their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. We do not guarantee the accuracy of the information or calculations provided. It is essential to consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. We are not responsible for any errors or omissions in the data. Investing in ETFs or any financial instrument involves risk, and you should conduct your own research. Past performance does not guarantee future results. By subscribing to this newsletter, you agree to these terms and conditions.