Active ETFs have grown massively in significance in recent years. AUM has grown as equity and fixed income investors alike have moved funds into actively managed ETFs. At the same time, active ETFs have contributed more and more to each year’s ETF crop. Amid that key investing trend, T. Rowe Price has played an important role, leveraging its global research platform while expanding its active ETF suite. T. Rowe Price Head of ETFs Tim Coyne sat down with VettaFi at Exchange to discuss the firm’s place in the active ETF landscape.
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Coyne, who joined the firm in 2019, addressed a few aspects of a changing and growing active investing landscape. For Coyne, T. Rowe Price has gained a “broader” degree of recognition, with clients now exploring deeper into the firm’s ETF suite.
The T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF (TCAF ) has gathered notable AUM since its inception, for example, rising to a leading role in the lineup. This year’s changing ETF landscape has benefitted some of the firm’s other ETFs, like the T. Rowe Price QM U.S. Bond ETF (TAGG ). TAGG has seen its AUM more than triple YTD.
Active ETFs in 2025
Active ETFs could help investors deal with a volatile start to the year. According to Coyne, markets have indeed changed compared to 2024.
“I think when you look at the past couple of years, there has been a concentration of where the growth was coming from… mostly from certain technology names,” Coyne said.
“I think active, actively managed ETFs fit very nicely into that,” he added. “I think especially versus passive ETFs, which are a little bit more of a look back in terms of index construction and what names are included. Whereas, active ETFs and active management is really about looking forward.”
T. Rowe Price, Coyne said, now aims to add thematic or sector ETFs to its roster. For example, the fund added an active thematic tech ETF to its roster in the last few months. The T. Rowe Price Technology ETF (TTEQ ) launched this past October, managed by T. Rowe Price portfolio manager Dom Rizzo.
“The next tier for us was really thinking more about sectors and thematic-type ETFs that meet client needs in their portfolio construction,” Coyne said. “TTEQ, that we launched last year…was our first sector ETF. We have further plans to expand in that area.”
Active Fixed Income ETFs
An additional area of change in active ETFs has been fixed income. Fixed income ETFs, especially actively managed strategies, have grown in popularity. TAGG, as mentioned above, stands out as an example with significant flows. Active management can offer more scrutiny of debt issuers and help avoid potential pitfalls, Coyne explained.
“I think there’s limitations, quite frankly, to passive in the fixed income side,” Coyne said. “I think especially with fixed income, it’s not just about what you’re buying, but also your ability to not buy something.”
Looking ahead, he said, investors could conceivably construct their entire fixed income allocation with ETFs. For those investors considering ETFs, from fixed income or equities, active ETFs, including from T. Rowe Price, could play a growing, valuable role.
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