Recently Launched ETFs to Watch in 2026
Published January 07, 2026 – 
By Aniket Ullal, SVP and Head, ETF Research & Analytics
Summary
The ETF industry continues to evolve rapidly, driven by regulatory developments, product innovation, and shifting investor preferences. While 2025 saw record ETF launches, not all funds achieved meaningful scale. Here we present five ETFs that signal where smart money is heading in 2026, with each representing a broader structural trend shaping ETF portfolio construction.
Fund selection was derived from CFRA’s proprietary and comprehensive suite of data, ratings, and research tools designed to monitor and analyze the global ETF industry. Click here to learn more.
These ETFs span new income strategies, crypto diversification, hedge fund replication, mutual fund conversions, and cash management solutions. All have surpassed $500 million in assets, making them early indicators of where investor demand is going.
Key Takeaways
- Five ETFs stand out as bellwethers for emerging ETF categories in 2026
- Product innovation is expanding access to strategies previously limited to institutional investors
- Regulatory clarity is accelerating growth in crypto and money market ETFs
- ETF wrappers continue to absorb mutual fund and hedge fund strategies
Structural Trends Driving New ETF Launches
Innovation in Income-Oriented ETFs
Income-focused ETF innovation has increasingly relied on derivatives to enhance yield. The success of covered call strategies over the past several years has paved the way for more complex structures, including autocallable income ETFs.
The Calamos Autocallable Income ETF (CAIE) represents a new category that packages laddered autocallable notes into a single ETF. This structure simplifies implementation and monitoring while offering higher income potential relative to traditional fixed income products, albeit with downside risk in severe market drawdowns.
Portfolio Construction Implication: Autocallable income ETFs may serve as satellite income allocations for investors seeking yield enhancement beyond traditional bond exposure.
Expansion of Crypto Exposure Beyond Single-Asset ETFs
The launch of spot bitcoin and ethereum ETFs established crypto as a viable ETF asset class. The next phase of growth is focused on diversification.
The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF (BITW) provides exposure to the ten largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, rebalanced monthly. This structure allows investors to access diversified crypto exposure through a single regulated vehicle.
Portfolio Construction Implication: Multi-coin crypto ETFs may replace single-asset products for investors seeking strategic, rather than tactical, crypto allocations.
Migration of Active and Hedge Fund Strategies into ETFs
Mutual Fund Conversions Accelerate
Akre Focus ETF (AKRE) highlights the continued conversion of actively managed mutual funds into ETFs. These conversions offer potential tax efficiency, intraday liquidity, and transparency, while preserving established investment processes.
With regulatory approval expanding for ETF share classes of mutual funds, this trend is likely to accelerate.
Portfolio Construction Implication: Advisors may increasingly replace traditional mutual funds with ETF equivalents without altering portfolio exposures.
Hedge Fund Strategies Reach a Broader Audience
The SPDR Bridgewater All Weather ETF (ALLW) reflects growing demand for institutional-style diversification strategies in an ETF wrapper. While hedge fund replication ETFs have existed for years, direct participation by large hedge fund managers represents a meaningful shift.
ALLW seeks to deliver resilience across market environments through global macro diversification.
Portfolio Construction Implication: Hedge fund strategy ETFs may serve as core diversifiers within multi-asset portfolios.
Cash Management Enters the ETF Ecosystem
Emergence of 2a-7 Compliant Money Market ETFs
The launch of Simplify Government Money Market ETF (SBIL) marks a structural shift in cash management. Historically, money market funds were unavailable in ETF form due to regulatory constraints. That changed in 2025.
SBIL’s rapid asset growth suggests strong demand for intraday liquidity combined with money market fund standards.
Portfolio Construction Implication: Money market ETFs may increasingly compete with traditional cash vehicles, particularly for tactical liquidity management.
Conclusion: Implications for ETF Investors and Advisors
The five ETFs highlighted here are not just recent launches. They are early indicators of broader shifts in ETF design, regulation, and investor behavior. As these categories mature, asset flows into these funds will provide valuable signals about the future direction of ETF portfolio construction.
As these ETF categories develop, CFRA will continue to monitor asset flows, adoption, and performance as indicators of broader shifts in ETF portfolio construction.
CFRA’s ETF Flows Data Set
CFRA offers a comprehensive set of data, ratings, and research to track the global ETF industry. The ETF data consists of three components – constituent holdings, proprietary classifications, and daily statistics. The latter includes daily flows for individual ETFs, available via both feed and API. Flows data can also be accessed and analyzed using CFRA’s FUNDynamix ETF platform.
Trial access for CFRA’s ETF data and tools can be requested here.
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