Last year was a record year for ETFs in the U.S., with 747 new listings. The industry has made a strong start in 2025 as well, with 75 new U.S. ETF listings in January, more than the 63 from the same month last year.
In 2024, buffer (or defined outcome) ETFs took in $14.7 billion in assets, and issuers responded by launching 19 of these products in January 2025. This year, investors anticipate more equity volatility, particularly in areas of government policy, so buffer ETFs could continue to gain in adoption. Issuers who launched new buffer products in January included First Trust, Blackrock, Allianz, Innovator, Calamos, Goldman Sachs and PGIM.
There were also eight leveraged equity and one leveraged commodity ETF launches in the month. They were focused on volatile semiconductor (ARM, AMD, TSM) and fintech (Riot, SoFi) stocks.
Six new ETF firms entered the U.S. market. Indexperts (powered by Linden Thomas & Co) launched two equity factor ETFs and a yield-focused bond ETF. Militia Investments launched a long/short equity ETF. MRBL launched a moderate (125%) leverage ETF. Peo Partners collaborated with AlphaQuest to launch a thematic PE ETF. Sarmaya Partners launched an active ETF focused on long-term global themes. Finally, Thornburg also entered the industry with two active international factor equity ETFs.
The full list of January listings is provided below:
Aniket Ullal is SVP, ETF Research and Analytics for CFRA, one of the world’s largest providers of independent investment research.
