Latest news with #AthanasiosPsarofagis
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Gold More Consistent Hedge Than Bitcoin
"Bloomberg ETF IQ" focuses on the opportunities, risks and current trends tied to the trillions of dollars in the global exchange traded funds industry. Today's guests: TMX VettaFi Investment Strategist Cinthia Murphy, Fidelity Head of ETF Management and Strategy Greg Friedman and Bloomberg Intelligence's Athanasios Psarofagis. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ETF Flows Set for Record; Big Money Enters High-Risk Funds
U.S. exchange-traded fund flows are on track to break records again in 2025, with $1.2 trillion projected to pour into the market despite modest performance by stocks and bonds, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence midyear outlook report. The relentless appetite for ETF products has persisted even as U.S. stocks have posted volatile performance and gained around 3% year to date. Bonds have also gained roughly 3% as well, the report showed. The continued surge in ETF flows demonstrates how the product has become a default vehicle for investors regardless of market conditions, driven by innovation in active management and crypto products alongside sustained demand for cheap beta exposure, Bloomberg Intelligence Analysts Eric Balchunas and Athanasios Psarofagis said. ETF flows usually slow when markets cool but not this year. A steady stream of cash is going into gold and cash-like ETFs too, according to the outlook. Another reason flows are so robust is that active management has entered the market in full, adding to steady, passive flows. The products as a group are taking in 40% of net flows despite holding only 10% of the assets, the analysts found. Most of the flows are going to active equity, a category that was dormant for the first 20 years that ETFs existed, according to the report. The best-selling active funds this year include a diverse group of covered call, CLO and thematic ETFs. Some high-risk active ETFs are also pulling in "big money," such as the YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (MSTY) and the Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 2X Shares (TSLL), the report found. Beyond the flows, more than 900 ETFs may launch this year, crushing last year's record of just over 700. Nearly 90% of this year's launches are active, Bloomberg Intelligence data show. This year, 16% of ETF launches have been some form of a single-security strategy that uses either leverage or options overlays, according to the outlook. Retail trades made up about 20.5% of U.S. equity volume in the first quarter, up from 17% a year earlier. While the average fee across the ETF industry is around 59 basis points, single-stock strategies command a premium, averaging 91 basis points, according to the report. For those with leverage or derivatives overlays, fees often exceed 100 basis points. Assets in leveraged long ETFs have nearly returned to their record $101 billion, highlighting the strong risk appetite still present among investors, the research | © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BlackRock Looks to Take ETF Volume Crown from State Street
State Street Corp. (STT) is on track to lose its position as the world leader in ETF trading volume, as investors aggressively snap up BlackRock Inc. (BLK) funds, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. State Street, whose SPDR business is the third-largest U.S. ETF issuer by assets behind BlackRock's iShares and The Vanguard Group, controls 31% of U.S. exchange-traded fund trading volume, Bloomberg ETF Analyst Athanasios Psarofagis wrote. While rival BlackRock holds 25%, its share is growing faster thanks to trading in the iShares Bitcoin ETF Trust (IBIT), its spot Bitcoin fund, and the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV). Volume is critical in the ETF business where the three largest funds, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and IVV charge rock-bottom fees and count on huge assets to generate income. The $607.4 billion SPY, which this year lost its title as the world's largest ETF to the $679.8 billion VOO, is the most expensive among the world's three biggest ETFs. 'BlackRock has steadily narrowed the gap and is on track to take the No. 1 spot,' Psarofagis wrote. VOO has become the largest ETF due to winning the most investor money this year, hauling in a net $80.9 billion while the other two big funds have had outflows. Still, SPY typically does more volume: Last week, 585 million shares traded, crushing VOO's 67.8 million and IVV's 66.8 million, according to FactSet data on IBIT, the fastest-growing ETF on record, had volume of 339.7 million shares last week. IBIT One-Month Price and Volume—Source: FactSet Volume overall has grown 'dramatically' in the past few years, and now about $13 trillion trades each quarter, Psarofagis wrote. The top 10 ETFs account for 44% of all volume and, while that's concentrated, it's actually broadened from a peak of 51%, he said. Analysts have speculated that IVV may soon surpass SPY to become the second-largest | © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
13-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
The Race to Zero in ETF Fees
Bloomberg The Open According to the latest research from Bloomberg Intelligence, there could be a big sea change if the race to lower ETF fees is over. Athanasios Psarofagis has more on "Bloomberg Open Interest." (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Circle's Wild IPO Sparks ETF Rush Betting on the Hot Stablecoin Stock
(Bloomberg) -- Wall Street's ETF machine kicked into high gear just hours after Circle Internet Group Inc. went public, riding the frenzied initial public offering of the stablecoin giant as crypto technologies enter mainstream finance. Trump Said He Fired the National Portrait Gallery Director. She's Still There. NYC Mayoral Candidates All Agree on Building More Housing. But Where? Senator Calls for Closing Troubled ICE Detention Facility in New Mexico California Pitches Emergency Loans for LA, Local Transit Systems At least three issuers rushed to file related exchange-traded funds following Circle's white-hot Thursday debut. The firm — issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin — saw its shares triple shortly after trading began, reviving animal spirits across an IPO-starved market. Filings for the Bitwise CRCL Option Income Strategy ETF, ProShares Ultra CRCL ETF and T-Rex 2x Long CRCL Daily Target ETF landed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission Friday and Monday. REX Financial's registration replaced an earlier ETF prospectus, effectively shortening the timeline for a potential approval. Bitwise Asset Management Inc.'s ETF seeks to employ a covered call strategy — which enhances the income of the underlying assets — while the versions from ProShares Advisors LLC and REX Financial offer amplified bets on the stock's performance by using derivatives to deliver two times its daily performance. With risk sentiment rekindled, funds tied to speculative assets — including leveraged or inverse bets — are increasingly popular. The rapid-fire pace at which ETF product teams are moving to cash in on the momentum of single stocks exemplifies the intense competition in the $11 trillion ETF arena in the US which has been flooded with more than 4,200 products. Of those, nearly 80 funds track digital-assets in some form, data compiled by Bloomberg show. 'It's an alignment of the stars,' said Athanasios Psarofagis, ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. 'It's a crypto company, so that's high demand, it's leveraged and it's a market hungry for IPOs.' Shares of the New York-based firm have soared more than 270% across their first three trading sessions, marking the most high-profile crypto equity debut since Coinbase Global Inc.'s direct listing in 2021. Its $1.1 billion IPO lands amid renewed bullishness for digital assets — fueled in part by a regulatory sea change under President Donald Trump, whose administration has signaled a dramatically friendlier stance toward crypto compared to his predecessor. That shift has emboldened both issuers and traders alike. Single-stock ETFs — many of them leveraged or using options overlays — now account for a record 16% of all new funds launched in 2025, per Bloomberg Intelligence. More than 15 firms are now competing in the space, most of them targeting high-conviction retail traders seeking fast, directional exposure. The ETFs being proposed are also increasingly aggressive: the average volatility of their underlying assets is nearly twice that of those for already approved products, according to BI data. Critical Vote Evidence of the mutability of the crypto crowd emerged on Tuesday as Circle shares fell as much as 10%. If the losses persist it will be the first daily slump since last week's IPO. Circle's dip comes ahead of potentially transformative stablecoin legislation, which is up for a crucial vote Wednesday. The bill is supported by the crypto industry and Trump, whose family's World Liberty Financial project has issued its own stablecoin. Stablecoins are crypto tokens typically designed to be pegged to the value of the US dollar or another traditional currency. Circle's role as the issuer of USDC — a stablecoin with around 29% market share — means the stock is not a pure crypto play. Its business model leans heavily on yield from US Treasuries and other safe assets that back its token. That sets it apart from revenue models like Coinbase, which rely on transaction fees, and has helped fuel investor interest. Retail trading behemoth Cathie Wood's ARK Investment Management, bought over 3 million shares of Circle for its flagship ETF (ticker ARKK) on Thursday, according to its website, placing it among the fund's top 10 largest holdings. The firm bought additional shares for its other funds. The Circle frenzy could set the tone for a broader wave of crypto IPOs. Gemini, the exchange run by the Winklevoss twins, has filed confidentially for a listing this year, while has staffed up with veteran talent to fast-track its plan to go public. 'This is the new trend. As certain companies IPO, we are seeing ETFs, and more specifically some levered ETFs, sprout to take advantage of any tailwinds,' said Mohit Bajaj, director of ETFs at WallachBeth Capital. Following Circle's huge run, 'some ETF issuers are trying to create a product based on it — in hopes that it will have success too.' --With assistance from Vildana Hajric. New Grads Join Worst Entry-Level Job Market in Years The SEC Pinned Its Hack on a Few Hapless Day Traders. The Full Story Is Far More Troubling What America's Pizza Economy Is Telling Us About the Real One Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert Wants to Donate His Billions—and Walk Again American Mid: Hampton Inn's Good-Enough Formula for World Domination ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
