Buffer ETFs blow a hurricane in the US
Have you ever wondered why Buffer ETFs in the U.S. are booming yet in Europe it’s like a ghost town?
Why the gap?
Options Market Structure: Buffer ETFs rely on structured options strategies. In the U.S., FLEX options provide deep liquidity, making it easy to create these structures. You can trade them on indices and ETFs like SPY, QQQ, etc. In Europe not so much. Liquidity in structured options is weaker, making it way harder to run these products efficiently.
Structured Product Culture: Europe already has a long history of structured products (e.g., autocallables, principal-protected notes, actively managed certificates). Instead of ETFs, investors in Europe have been getting their buffered exposures through banks and structured note platforms since the ‘90s.
Limited Local Exposure: Even the Buffer ETFs that do exist in Europe mostly track U.S. indices like the S&P 500. Why? Because there’s no real options liquidity on Eurostoxx, DAX, FTSE, etc. Without that, you can’t efficiently build a Buffered ETF for local markets.
So the question is, will Buffer ETFs ever take off in Europe? Maybe but don’t hold your breath.
Launches this week
Flows & performance
After ranking first in best-selling categories in Q4 2024, European ETF sales in February placed US ETFs at the bottom of the worst-selling category rankings. Compliments of Acolin.
Investors are increasingly taking refuge from the tumultuous U.S. stock market by pouring money into Buffer ETFs.
Over the past month, as the market has pulled back sharply, “buffer” ETFs have seen $2.5 billion of inflows, according to CFRA Research. The category has seen $4.7 billion of inflows so far this year.
Cryptocurrency ETPs continued seeing massive selling last week, recording the fifth week of outflows in a row, with $1.7 billion leaving the market.
After seeing slightly softened outflows of $876 million in the previous week, crypto ETP liquidations accelerated during the past trading week, bringing the total five-week outflows to $6.4 billion, according to CoinShares.
A dip in the Australian ETF industry
The Australian ETF industry posted a “rare dip” in AuM in February as positive monthly inflows were not enough to offset a global drop in share prices, according to new research from Betashares.
The Sydney-based asset manager said in its latest monthly Australian ETF review that assets managed by local ETFs had fallen by A$2.1bn (US$1.3bn), or 0.81 per cent, last month compared with January.
Still when you have a CARG of 43%, you can afford to have an off month.
Vanguard’s assets in the US continue to grow, as net flows jumped by $14.5 billion last week bringing total intake on the year to nearly $95 billion, according to etf.com data. That’s a whopping $75 billion lead over the next-closest issuer, State Street. Nice.
Best Performers US & EU
Listen and Learn
Today we sit down with Federico Brokate, Head of US Business at 21Shares. Fede shares how his mission to increase financial access led him from BlackRock to 21Shares, where he’s helping bridge the gap between traditional markets and digital assets.
We discuss the momentum behind crypto ETFs, evolving regulations, and why retail investors were early adopters in a space typically dominated by institutions.
Graph of the Week
The U.S. ETF industry enjoyed strong estimated net inflows (+$114.8 bn) over the course of February despite the headwinds in the equity markets. These inflows drove the overall inflows in ETFs up to $219.5 bn for the year 2025 so far.
Funds in Focus
Managed Futures ETFs are back in Europe again with the launch of the iMGP DBi Managed Futures Fund R USD ETF. The fund carries a TER of 0.75% and is listed on Euronext Paris with a further listing on the London Stock Exchange to follow.
The iMGP DBi Managed Futures Fund R USD ETF will mirror the world’s largest managed futures ETF, the iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF, which is listed in the United States. Both are managed by DBi, a partner of iMGP. The ETF listed in the U.S. trades under the ticker DBMF:US, while the share class of the European UCITS ETF trades under DBMF:FP.
There are a few interesting things about this fund.
It’s a share class of an existing Lux domiciled mutual fund
This fund is distributed by iM Global Partner which would make it the first ETF in Europe to be distributed by a 3rd party distributor (as far as I know anyway)
It’s the first Managed Future listed in Europe since JP Morgan closed its strategy in 2020.
Distribution is always the Achilles heel of any small manager so whether the strategy to partner with iM Global Partner is successful will be looked on with much anticipation I can imagine.
Also Managed Futures product in UCITS format have always been a tricky one. Performance can be challenging hence why many struggle to have success with these products. Whether DBi can pull it off, only time will tell but I wish them well.
Things of interest
Global gold ETFs continue to see inflows as holdings across all regions grew on the increase in gold prices.
Reports have it that Morgan Stanley is examining launching its first ETF in Europe, The company already has an ETF Icav registered with the Central Bank of Ireland.
The first sub-fund of the Icav set to be launched is the Garnet US Treasury Bond 1-3 Year Ucits ETF. Seemingly, the new ETF would be launched in response to client demand. Now how many times have I heard that one.
The rise of China’s passive fund sector
The rise of China’s passive fund sector is shaking job security amongst active fund managers as the country pivots towards a rapid shift towards lower-cost passive products. Since the beginning of the year, 69 fund managers have left their firms, according to Wind data.
The trend comes amid strong regulatory support and a massive boom in flows into ETFs in China, as authorities try to boost passive capital flows into the local stock market. This has come amid persistent redemptions and a loss of faith in active fund managers to produce returns among some investors.
Assets in passively managed stock funds inched above actively managed equities products in China for the first time last October.
A recent survey we conducted with ETF professionals showed that the usage of AI in people’s day to day jobs was higher than previously expected, at least for me. The survey showed that a whopping 40% of ETF professional are using AI “all the time”. Interesting. I wonder what AI tools they are actually using?
US RIAs are dramatically expanding their ETF usage
US RIAs are dramatically expanding their ETF usage, with the average firm now holding 81 funds—up 14% in just one year—according to AdvizorPro’s 2025 RIA ETF Trends report.
Key findings include:
- Thematic & Alternative ETFs Gain Traction – Digital asset ETFs saw fast growth, with crypto-related funds up dramatically, while structured income and options-based ETFs gained significant advisor interest.
- RIAs Are Expanding ETF Usage – The average number of ETFs per firm rose 14%, with two-thirds of RIAs increasing allocations, highlighting a preference for diversification over concentration.
- Market Share Is Shifting Among Issuers – While iShares, Vanguard, and SPDR maintain dominance, firms like JPMorgan, Dimensional, and First Trust are seeing rapid growth, reflecting increased advisor demand for active and factor-based strategies.
- High ETF Turnover Signals Active Portfolio Management – Over half of ETF positions changed in 2024, indicating that RIAs are tactically reallocating portfolios to adapt to evolving market conditions.
Career corner
Movers and Shakers
- Robert Marrocco, the former global head of ETP listings at Cboe Global Markets, has joined TXSE as global head of exchange traded products and as a member of TXSE’s management committee.
- Alison Hennessy, the former head of ETP listings at the Nasdaq Stock Market, has also joined TXSE as managing director of exchange traded products.
- Laura Morrison will be a strategic advisor for TXSE. Previously, she was global head of listings and exchange traded products at Cboe Global Markets, as well as global head of indices and exchange traded products at the New York Stock Exchange.
- Stephanie Schils has joined Lazzard in NY as head of sales strategy for their newly launched ETF business. She was previously at Neuberger Berman.
- Damon Walvoord has joined National Bank of Canada as Head of ETFs. Damon was previously at Susquehanna.
On the Move
US featured Opportunities
Index Licensing Sales – New York: Help grow the Index business in the US as part of our dynamic and growing Index Licensing Sales team by working with investment product issuers to bring new innovative investment products to market.
European Featured Opportunities
European Marketing Manager – London: The role will see you lead all marketing initiatives across Europe, driving engagement, brand growth, and ETP product adoption (and AUM growth) among professional and retail investors.
Tip of the week
How to avoid the Musk treatment?
Elon Musk recently pulled the ultimate productivity audit move—demanding government workers send him five bullet points each week proving they actually did something useful.
Most of us would probably panic if our boss suddenly asked us to justify our entire workweek in five sentences. If you don’t wanna get caught looking busy instead of being productive.
Here’s how to actually get stuff done:
- Start your day with ONE clear goal – Not 20. Just one. If you nail that, everything else is a bonus.
- Stop the performative work – Nobody cares how many meetings you sat through. Did you actually move the needle on something? If not, it doesn’t count.
- Timebox the boring stuff – Emails? Admin? Give yourself a time limit or they’ll eat your whole day.
- Measure impact, not effort – Working 10 hours means nothing if you accomplished what could’ve been done in 3.
- Write your own 5 bullets BEFORE someone asks – If you can’t quickly list what you achieved, you probably didn’t achieve much.
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