On this week’s episode of ETF Prime, VettaFi’s Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth shares highlights from the 2025 etf.com Awards. Later, Barry Ritholtz, chairman and CIO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, discusses the current market environment and his new book.
Highlights From the etf.com Awards
The etf.com industry awards ceremony offers a preview of the highlights from the past year in the world of ETFs. Many firms were recognized during the etf.com awards this year, including Vanguard, NEOS, iShares, and MFS, among others.
“At VettaFi we love when the ETF community comes together. The last time we did was the Exchange conference,” Rosenbluth said. “There were so many accomplishments in 2024. It is great to see the people behind those accomplishments, and to see many of them get recognized.”
ETF of the Year
First, Geraci and Rosenbluth discussed the ETF of the Year category. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO ) won the category, edging out the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT ).
“I think the judges got it right, and honestly, I don’t think this is that close of a decision,” Rosenbluth said. “VOO broke the record for ETF inflows for a calendar year — over the summer — and ended the year with $116 billion. It is the building block used by many investors, who added more than $1 trillion to ETFs. And that helped us cross the $10 trillion in assets under management mark.”
Rosenbluth said VOO is the perfect example of the ETF market working for the core of the portfolio. While IBIT had a tremendous first year, bitcoin has just a small allocation in the portfolios of a fairly small number of investors, Rosenbluth said.
See more: VOO Worthy of ETF of the Year
Best New Active ETF
The NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF (QQQI ) won the Best New Active ETF category. QQQI fund manager NEOS is a leader in the options based ETF market. The firm has quickly built a lineup of active products, according to Rosenbluth.
QQQI stands out as it actively implements a data-driven call option strategy. “While QQQI is just over a year old, the NEOS team behind the fund has extensive options experience,” Rosenbluth said.
Notably, QQQI’s management team takes advantage of tax-loss harvesting opportunities. The team also uses index options that are subject to lower tax rates, he highlighted.
“These are not security selection-focused. They tap into the expertise of the managers to tax efficiently make options decisions on the Nasdaq-100,” Rosenbluth said. “QQQI is the more growth-oriented version of SPYI that quickly gained favor with investors.”
Best New ETF Issuer
MFS took home the gold when it comes to the best new ETF issuer. MFS is one of the latest well-established mutual fund providers to enter the ETF market, Rosenbluth noted.
The firm deployed its first ETFs in December, launching active equity and fixed income ETFs that have hit the ground running.
“They were visible at Exchange and have done educational events. They have a 100-year history to lean on and a lot of trust from advisors,” Rosenbluth added. “I’m a big believer in proven asset managers bringing their best into the ETF market.”
Additionally, he called out Fundstrat among the other finalists. The issuer offers the Fundstrat Granny Shots US Large Cap ETF (GRNY), managed by well-respected stock market commentator Tom Lee.
The term “granny shots” refers to an unconventional and underhanded way of shooting a basketball. In the context of ETF investing, it refers to the fund manager’s method for researching companies for the fund, a strategy it has employed since 2019.
See more: Fundstrat Launches New Large-Cap ‘Granny Shots’ ETF
ETF Issuer of the Year
Active manager Capital Group took home the ETF Issuer of the Year Award, which is fitting, considering 2024 was the year of active ETFs, Rosenbluth said. The issuer has only been in the ETF arena for three years. It has close to $60 billion in assets, gathering around $20 billion in 2024.
“They have quickly built a lineup of active equity and fixed income ETFs,” he added.
Rosenbluth said he was intrigued to see many smaller firms among the ETF Issuer of the Year finalists. Notably, SSGA was the only asset management giant to make the list.
“There’s obviously some great things happening with the top 10 issuers, but there are also some pretty compelling things that are happening within the broader ETF system,” he said.
Framing Recent Market Volatility
A large part of Ritholtz’s new book focuses on framing and context, and not pulling the most recent data points out of context. “Not suffering from the recency effect,” he said.
In response to recent market turmoil and investor hesitancy, Ritholtz pointed out that investors just enjoyed two consecutive years of 25%-plus returns. “Those are really rare,” he added.
On Ritholtz’s quarterly call with clients in January, he told investors to “lower your expectations for 2025 because you just got five years worth of returns in 40% of the time.”
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