For many of us, a new year often means a new chance to start fresh in our battle with weight. Thanks to interesting ETF product development, especially in the past year, it could also mean a chance to consider the investment opportunity in weight loss as a theme.
Google data confirms that many of us did, indeed, kick off 2025 searching for ways to tackle the scale. According to the numbers, searches for the term “GLP-1s” climbed more than 20% in the first three days of the year relative to December 31, 2024. That search hit “peak popularity” by January 3. Google searches for the term “weight loss” were even higher. It’s New Year’s resolution season — this outcome is hardly surprising.
Increasing Popularity
But as an investment theme, weight loss drugs are increasingly popular. We’ve all seen the advertising campaigns for lifestyle programs and GLP-1s (which stands for glucagon-like peptide-1) and other weight loss drugs across media formats. The message to lose weight, and to do so with the help of drugs, is definitely ringing loud everywhere we look.
Consider that Custom Market Insights projects the U.S. weight loss market to practically double by 2033, and this prediction centers on diet and exercise — lifestyle programs. The forecast growth for the weight loss drug market, specifically, is even more exponential. Morgan Stanley, for example, projects it to reach $105 billion by 2030. Goldman Sachs puts it at $130 billion by that year — all up from single digits as recently as 2023. This is big growth for the drug market, and product development is just picking up steam.
Eli Lilly, for example, which is behind the drug Zepbound, shared this week that it’s already looking for approval for an oral version of its weight loss drug sometime next year. Novo Nordisk, behind Wegovy, is in the same race to innovate, with more user-friendly and effective versions of existing weight loss drugs. Merck, Amgen, Pfizer, and others are all investing in product development and testing in this segment both here and globally.
On the regulatory front, there are proposed rule changes that could expand Medicare and Medicaid coverage to include weight loss drugs. That would open the door for even wider adoption. Imagine what easier access could mean for demand.
The ETF market is already busy capturing this theme.
Investors have always been able to invest in pharmaceutical and lifestyle-centered portfolios. But they can now narrow their focus to the GLP-1 drug segment specifically with funds that have come to market tapping directly into the weight loss thematic opportunity.
3 ETFs For Direct Access
One of the funds in this segment, launched last May, is the Amplify Weight Loss Drug & Treatment ETF (THNR ). It tracks a float-adjusted market-cap index developed by VettaFi. The portfolio holds 28 companies that are involved with GLP-1 drugs as well as the broader supply chain supporting this segment. It’s global in scope, with about 50% tied to U.S. names. (Top holdings, as of January 16, 2025, below):
The Roundhill GLP-1 & Weight Loss ETF (OZEM ) is another ETF in this segment, also launched in May 2024. OZEM and THNR share more than a three-fourths overlap in positions. But OZEM is an actively managed approach to this theme that offers similar allocation to pharmaceutical names (industry weight). Yet it skews more heavily into biotechnology (2x the weight allocation versus THNR). However, it carries only a fifth of the weight THNR assigns to life sciences and services.
The Tema GLP-1, Obesity & Cardiometabolic ETF (HRTS ) offers a broader take on the theme that includes a company like UnitedHealth Group as its second biggest holding. It was renamed last July to include the word “GLP-1” in its name. The actively managed fund, which holds 45 positions, also focused on heart disease.
Drugs as a Theme
There are many ways to access an investment theme, from passive versus active approaches to broad versus narrow tools. If you’re looking for the most direct ETF access to the weight-loss-drug theme, these ETFs are some of the most direct vectors into this segment. In fact, a look at THNR relative to the largest U.S. pharma ETF, the iShares U.S. Pharmaceutical ETF (IHE ), shows that the overlap in exposure is indeed small. It’s less than a third of the overall portfolio, according to VettaFi PRO data.
For a compressive list of pharmaceutical ETFs, check out our list of funds.
VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”) is the index provider for THNR, for which it receives an index licensing fee. HoweveTHNR is not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi, and VettaFi has no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of THNR.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit VettaFi | ETFDB.
