Most Interesting New ETFs of 2021

Investors continue to pour money into ETFs at a record pace. US listed ETFs have already gathered more than $500 billion in net inflows year-to-date, surpassing the total for 2020. While fixed income ETFs gathered a lot of cash last year, most of new money this year has gone into equity ETFs. Ultra-cheap, plain-vanilla, broad market ETFs like Vanguard S&P 500 ETF(VOO), Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) and iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) are the biggest asset gainers.

Many investors are moving out of actively managed mutual funds into ETFs mainly due to low cost and tax efficiency. Use of ETFs by active managers, either as a substitute for or in combination with individual stocks, increasing adoption by institutional investors and rising popularity of ETF model portfolios have further boosted the industry, which now has over $6.5 trillion in assets.

ETF providers continue to launch new products at a brisk pace to gain a share of the massive inflows. We saw a number of active ETFs launch this year, thanks mainly to enormous success of Ark ETFs.  Cathie Wood’s ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (ARKX) is one of the most successful launches of 2021. It holds companies poised to benefit from the fast-growing space economy.

Activist investor Engine No. 1, which won three Exxon Mobil (XOM) board seats after a long proxy fight, launched the Transform 500 ETF (VOTE). The shares of the ETF will be used to push for climate change and other ESG proposals. Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) are the top holdings in the fund.

The Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF (META) holds global companies actively involved in the Metaverse, defined as next version of the internet. NVIDIA (NVDA) and Tencent (TCEHY) are among the top holdings.

The Direxion Low Priced Stock ETF (LOPX) tracks an equal-weighted index of stocks with relatively low trading prices. AMC (AMC) is the top holding in the fund currently.

Please watch the short video above to learn more about these ETFs.

Bitcoin, Like the Internet Itself, Could Change Everything

Blockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the “Internet of Money” and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix did to Blockbuster and Amazon did to Sears. Experts agree we’re still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities.

Zacks’ has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly. 

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.