Hi Everyone!
Before we get started, a quick favor: Trackinsight’s 2026 Global ETF Survey is now live. If you work with ETFs, we’d greatly appreciate your participation. The survey takes just a few minutes and helps capture the views of advisors, investors, and ETF professionals worldwide.
Despite a recent pullback, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) became the first ETF ever to surpass $1 trillion in assets under management. The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) are next in line with $835B and $779B in assets respectively.
Out of 5,256 funds holding $15.7T in assets, just 40 of them control half the money.
Meanwhile, 73% of all ETFs hold under $500M each.
A handful of giants, and a very long tail.
Defense, infrastructure, AI, and nuclear energy continue their multi-year hot streak, while Smart City and Space & Deep Sea are new hot outliers.
DRAM surged by targeting one of the biggest AI infrastructure bottlenecks, memory and advanced packaging, at a time when related stocks were delivering explosive gains. NASA benefited from growing investor interest in the space economy and its unique exposure to SpaceX and other next-generation aerospace innovators. IQMM captured institutional demand for stablecoin reserves by offering a regulated, highly liquid ETF structure backed by cash and short-term U.S. government securities.
Hi Everyone!
Rob Isbitts from ETF Yourself and my new ETF portfolio-building site ROAR.PiTrade. Back with the May 2026 launch update.
146 new ETF launches last month. That’s enough for me to wonder when the ticker symbol OMG will be used. Because that all I can say about the pace of new funds, month after month.
Still, that doesn’t mean they are all the same. Far from it. So keep this in mind as you see the “Love It” and “Like It” sections below.
I highlight those not because I’m predicting immediate price gains, but because I believe they are different from the crowd, structurally speaking. Every month we see more covered call ETFs, more buffer products, and more single stock leveraged and inverse ETFs.
Those are all what I’d call “additions to existing ETF ingenuity” that allows traders and investors a wider tool set than ever before.
But the ones I highlight are the ETFs I consider to be something fairly unique in the US ETF market. Or as fans of comedian John Mullaney might smile at, these types of ETFs are “new in town.”
Below, you’ll see a table that lists each new ETF, some key data points about it, and a “one liner” explaining my initial reaction to that fund’s approach.
As we did last month, you’ll also see a more tenured ETF I consider to be a peer to the new fund. I am a retired investment advisor and fund manager, and I remember the difficulties of fitting new ETFs into a backtest or portfolio analytics report.
And since I am the creator of the ROAR (Return Opportunity And Risk) Score, an analytical tool that assesses risk of major loss for any ETF or stock at any time, I’ll include the recent ROAR Score of that peer ETF.
What’s the ROAR Score
The ROAR Score is a percentage from 0 to 100 that answers a fundamental question: “What is the probability this stock or ETF will rise 10% before it falls 10%?” Now, that is not 10% for every ETF or stock. One feature (or bug if you ask me) of modern markets is that when markets get angry or excited, they can move the price of even a sleepy stock or a bond ETF by 10% in a matter of days.
These represent the most unique and tactically new funds:
The Return Stacked International Stocks & Managed Futures ETF (RSIT) provides structural innovation for multi-asset investing.
For every dollar invested, it uses derivatives to deliver a full dollar of international stock market exposure alongside a full dollar of an actively managed futures trend-following strategy.
This effectively gives investors a two-dollar portfolio allocation for the price of one. Or, futures-driven leverage.
It is close to the first of its kind in the international equity space, allowing professional allocators to maintain their core stock market exposure while automatically running an uncorrelated trend-following sleeve next to it, eliminating the traditional need to sell down stocks to free up cash for an alternative defensive strategy.
The Corgi Lithography & Semiconductor Photonics ETF (EUV) isolates a critical physical bottleneck in the technology supply chain. Instead of tracking a broad, market-cap-weighted semiconductor index dominated by popular downstream chip designers or software integrators, this fund builds a highly concentrated portfolio focused strictly on the global companies that hold monopolies over extreme ultraviolet lithography systems and advanced photonic interconnects.
It is a first-of-its-kind thematic play because it bypasses generic tech exposure to target the exact physical hardware monopolies and engineering chokepoints that next-generation artificial intelligence data centers absolutely require to build out their networks.
The Roundhill HALO ETF (LOHA) brings an institutional quantitative strategy to the retail market that was previously difficult to access in a transparent wrapper.
Instead of relying on traditional cap-weighted index logic or basic multi-factor screens, the fund uses a proprietary rules-based framework designed to isolate high-conviction corporate compounders based on deep behavioral and structural market anomalies.
It is a unique entry in the smart-beta space because it avoids the typical factor-heaviness found in standard large-cap growth or value clones, offering professional allocators a distinct, non-rhyming core equity satellite built to maximize active share through engineered behavioral finance models.
These offer quality, specialized ways to play specific market segments.
Why: The Goaltender ETF (GTND) acts as a dynamic, risk-managed large-cap equity vehicle. It targets broad US equity exposure for portfolio growth but integrates a quantitative, automated options-collar framework.
This structural overlay is designed to capture standard stock market upside when equity conditions are healthy, but it systematically builds defensive options hedges as underlying market volatility markers clear specific thresholds.
It stands apart from standard hedged equity funds by using an active, trend-following circuit breaker to automate the defensive scaling process, protecting core stock market capital during severe sell-offs without requiring the manager to perfectly time macro market tops.
Why: The iShares Flexible Equity Active ETF (BFLX) marks a definitive shift where a major passive index provider introduces an unconstrained, active long-short mandate.
Operating completely independent of traditional benchmark limitations, the trading desk is empowered to adjust net and gross equity exposures, deploy short positions, and expand defensive cash reserves based on real-time underlying valuations.
It is a unique entry in the active space because it moves entirely away from index-plus closet indexing, providing investment professionals with a highly liquid and flexible structural satellite designed to outsource directional equity risk management to an institutional desk.
Why: The Fitz-Gerald Must Have Portfolio ETF (FITZ) rejects standard index construction rules by completely discarding sector diversification guidelines to run an ultra-concentrated equity portfolio.
The strategy filters out standard large-cap index weightings to focus entirely on a lean basket of dominant global businesses identified as foundational, indispensable infrastructure to the modern economy.
It is relatively unique because it intentionally sacrifices broad diversification and trades short-term benchmark tracking error for maximized active share, ensuring capital is concentrated solely within durable global compounders that own absolute secular tailwinds.
Reach out to me at info@sungardeninvestment.com with any questions, comments or feedback. You can also sign up for ETFYourself.com on Substack and chat with me directly there.
Best regards,
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.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.