Advisers state worth, not simply cost, now drives active ETF selects
New study reveals most advisors prepare to broaden active ETF usage, however liquidity fit and structural openness are significantly the choosing elements.
Financial advisors have actually moved past the concern of whether to utilize active exchange-traded funds and are now questioning where the structure truly makes its location in a portfolio, according to brand-new research study from MSCI Inc.
The index service provider’s ETF Intelligence Survey 2026, which surveyed 450 advisors throughout the United States and Europe, discovered that 87% currently hold active ETFs and 71% anticipate to increase that direct exposure over the next 2 years.
The survey discovered over half of participants (58%) stated a brand-new active ETF allowance from a supervisor they currently utilize would probably displace an existing shared fund or similar pooled holding. That alternative dynamic does not always need advisors to change supervisors, as half stated they would move into an active ETF variation of a technique they currently hold, and 85% of those associated with fund choice stated they ‘d accept an ETF share class of that exact same technique.
Advisers are getting pickier about fit
The MSCI findings get here as advisors grow more critical about which techniques belong in the ETF wrapper at all. While virtually half of participants (49%) stated they’re open to accessing private or less liquid assets through an ETF, just 16% really think about personal markets a great structural suitable for the car. Roughly two-thirds indicated an inequality in between the ETF’s liquidity which of its underlying properties as the main issue, with assessment openness and an absence of performance history mentioned as secondary concerns the study kept in mind.
Liquidity and trading effectiveness ranked amongst the leading concerns for 68% of advisors surveyed, recommending the market is now weighing the continuous expense of utilizing an ETF together with the expense of owning it. Advisers likewise revealed the greatest hunger for thematic and megatrend strategies, and 45% anticipate to expand their equity direct exposure beyond domestic markets over the next 2 years, with emerging-market allotments drawing more interest than developed-market ones amongst that group.
“What we are seeing is a shift from whether advisors will utilize active ETFs to where the structure provides the most worth,” stated Jana Haines, worldwide head of index at MSCI.
She included that the chance for property supervisors now “lies not simply in offering more option, however in understanding where the structure includes worth, where its limitations lie and what it requires to make a location in the portfolio.”
RIAs are leading the shift
The MSCI findings track carefully with separate research from ISS Market Intelligence, which discovered that signed up financial investment advisors have actually ended up being the dominant channel for active ETF adoption. RIAs led all intermediary channels in overall active ETF properties, holding $442.7 billion, going beyond the active ETF holdings of standard broker-dealers, independent broker-dealers and wirehouses created.
The hunger for more recent active techniques has actually been specifically genuine amongst RIAs. Active ETFs introduced considering that the start of 2023 taped higher development in between March 2025 and March 2026 than the whole of funds introduced prior to 2020, ISS MI discovered. Traditional and independent broker-dealers revealed a comparable however more soft pattern, while wirehouses dragged– a space the research study credited to tighter due-diligence controls that office put on brand-new fund additions to wirehouse platforms.
Passive ETF development followed a various trajectory completely, focused extremely in tradition funds introduced in the early 2000s instead of more recent entrants.
Volatility enhancing the case for active management
The restored interest in active techniques isn’t restricted to the ETF wrapper. Schroders’ 2026 Global Investor Insights Survey discovered that a big bulk of financiers anticipate market volatility to increase over the next year. Most are reacting by leaning even more into active decision-making instead of standing pat, according to Schroders’ North American study findings.
The worldwide outcomes likewise discovered that financiers mentioned diversity, tactical positioning and danger management as their leading factors for utilizing active ETFs particularly. One in 4 stated they’re utilizing active ETFs for core equity allotments, while a somewhat lower one in 5 are leveraging them for set earnings or credit direct exposure.
