Global ETF Survey 2025: Active Management, Crypto Innovation and Income Strategies Set the Tone for Record-Breaking Year
14 MAY, 2025
By Jose Luis Palmer from RankiaPro Europe
Trackinsight’s Global ETF Survey 2025, produced in collaboration with key industry partners, is now live—offering one of the most comprehensive overviews of global ETF trends, investor sentiment and evolving portfolio behaviours across regions.
A Global View from Thousands of ETF Professionals
Now in its latest edition, the Global ETF Survey 2025 draws insights from over 600 professional investors and industry stakeholders across Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America. The survey includes responses from asset managers, institutional investors, financial advisors, and wealth managers, making it one of the most diverse and data-rich snapshots of the ETF landscape globally.
Conducted during early 2025, the survey examined how professionals use ETFs in their portfolios, their evolving preferences around asset classes, fund structures, and strategies, and what they expect from ETF providers in the year ahead. The survey also contextualised its findings with ETF market data and launch activity to connect investor sentiment with industry outcomes.
2024: A Record Year for Global ETFs
The report confirms what many ETF watchers already suspected: 2024 marked a record-breaking year for global exchange-traded funds. Total ETF assets outside of China and India soared to $14.5 trillion, fuelled by $1.59 trillion in net inflows—with the United States contributing $1.17 trillion alone.
ETF launch activity hit an all-time high with 1,712 new funds, even as closures increased, underscoring the challenges of market saturation and competitiveness. According to Trackinsight, the funds most likely to survive today’s crowded field must demonstrate scale, liquidity, and relevance.
Key Trends and Highlights
Active ETFs: From Fringe to Mainstream
Active ETFs are now the fastest-growing segment of the ETF universe, making up 27% of global listings, compared to just 13% in 2019. They attracted $352 billion in flows last year, and accounted for over half of all new launches.
- In the U.S., assets under management in active ETFs reached $973 billion, supported by share class reform and conversions from traditional funds.
- Europe is quickly catching up, with active ETF AUM quadrupling since 2019 and a wave of launches in Ireland and Luxembourg.
- Canada remains the global leader by proportion, where 55% of all ETFs are active and 76% of launches in 2024 came from this category.
Crucially, active ETFs are now widely viewed as viable replacements for mutual funds, offering outperformance potential, fee efficiency, and better risk management—even as concerns around track records and consistency persist.
Fixed Income ETFs: The Maturing Giant
Fixed income ETFs have grown into a foundational pillar of ETF portfolios. Total assets (ex-China/India) surpassed $2.6 trillion, with a third of flows going to actively managed bond ETFs—a signal of investors’ confidence in active fixed income strategies amid a complex rate environment.
- 269 active bond ETF launches took place in 2024.
- $127 billion in inflows went to these strategies.
- Investors are now exploring higher-yielding segments such as CLOs, hybrids, and high-interest savings ETFs.
- Nearly half of respondents intend to increase allocations to bond ETFs in 2025.
Thematic ETFs: Focused but Fragile
Thematic ETFs continue to draw attention but are used selectively, often with allocations under 30% of portfolios. Still, over half of investors plan to increase exposure in the future.
Top-performing themes include:
- Digital infrastructure
- Disruptive tech
- Biotech
- Cybersecurity
- Defense and water security
Meanwhile, interest in themes like metaverse and blockchain has waned, leading to a spike in closures—particularly in volatile and sentiment-driven niches.
ESG ETFs: Regulation Driving Maturity
The ESG ETF space is in a transitional phase, with the U.S. showing more modest inflows but Europe leading in launches—288 ESG ETFs were introduced in 2024 alone.
- SFDR reforms, CSRD reporting, and regulatory oversight on greenwashing are pushing fund standards higher.
- Investors still face challenges with trust and comparability, but more than half plan to grow their ESG ETF exposure, with an increasing preference for active ESG strategies.
Crypto ETFs: A Global Rebalancing
Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF approvals in the U.S. created a tidal wave of interest, drawing $85 billion in new assets and redefining the crypto ETP landscape.
- Europe remains the most diverse crypto ETF market globally, with 170 products covering coins like Solana, XRP, and multi-asset baskets.
- Hong Kong and Thailand emerged as new players in retail-accessible crypto ETFs, while Canada saw outflows as local investors reallocated to U.S.-based products.
Income & Options Strategies: Gaining Ground
More than half of respondents now hold options-based ETFs, with covered call strategies leading the way. These products are increasingly seen as core tools for income generation and volatility management.
- Around 60% of investors plan to increase exposure to options-based ETFs.
- Dividend ETFs remain the most popular income vehicle, but there’s growing use of bond and options strategies for diversification.
Conclusion: A New Chapter for ETFs
The Global ETF Survey 2025 reveals an industry not only growing in scale but diversifying in approach. From the mainstreaming of active and fixed income ETFs to the cautious optimism around crypto and ESG products, the global ETF market is clearly entering a more sophisticated, flexible, and demand-driven phase.
With professional investors signalling continued growth across multiple strategies and geographies, ETFs appear poised to play an even more central role in portfolios throughout 2025 and beyond.
👉 Explore the full survey results
