Episode summary
Alternative ETFs, Flows, and State Street’s New Nasdaq-100 ETF
ETF Prime
· · 54 min · Guests: Cinthia Murphy, Matt Bartolini
Summary
Alternative ETFs are drawing renewed attention because investors are worried about concentration in large-cap U.S. stocks, high valuations, and the possibility that stocks and bonds could stay positively correlated. The host and Cinthia Murphy argued that liquid alternatives are acting like portfolio diversifiers again, with the category taking in over $30 billion this year and punching above its weight relative to its small share of ETF assets. She highlighted iShares Systematic Alternatives Active ETF (IALT), iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF), Box (BOXX), Simplify’s CTA, and State Street’s All Weather ETF (ALW) as funds that stand out for different reasons, including protection, trend-following, and tax-aware cash-like exposure.
Key takeaways
- Cinthia Murphy said alternative ETFs have taken in over $30 billion this year, or roughly 2.5% of total ETF flows, despite being less than 1% of ETF assets.
- Murphy argued that IALT’s use in BlackRock model portfolios is a meaningful signal that the firm sees alts as important, even if the flows are not purely organic.
- Murphy said DBMF keeps attracting assets when investors want diversification, and that its managed-futures design makes it a recurring headline fund during stress periods.
- Matt Bartolini said 73% of equity ETF flows in July went into U.S. equities, showing home bias remains strong even as international markets outperform.
- Bartolini said State Street’s SPYM and new QNDX reflect a pricing strategy built around low-cost access to core benchmarks and broader investor adoption.
Notable quotes
“alternatives provide a completely different return stream”
“It has taken in over $30 billion in assets which you know we have almost $1.2 trillion in assets this flows this year”
“the role of a diversification tool strategically still plays”
How the episode opens
So I think earnings are super important right now. I think they they take this, you know, breaking news flavor because to your point valuations are so high. All right, joining me will be Matt Bardellini, global head of research strategist at State Street Investment Management, who of course is the country's third largest ETF issuer.
Now over two trillion dollars in US listed ETF assets. That's across nearly 180 products including the recently launched State Street Spider portfolio NASDAQ 100 ETF ticker QNDX. This is now the lowest cost NASDAQ 100 ETF on the market in uh what is a quickly expanding category.
And so Matt and I are going to discuss that ETF along with the lowest cost S&P 500 ETF, the State Street Spider Portfolio S&P 500 ETF, ticker SPYM, which was recently selected by the Treasury Department to serve as the default option for the new Trump accounts, which that's a nice little win for State Street on an ETF that already has over 50 billion in inflows just this year. it's continue to climb the ETF leaderboard. So, we'll talk about that and then Matt and I will also get into broader ETF flows just in terms of what's standing out to him at the moment.
So, it should be a great conversation. Now, to start this week, I'll be joined by Cynthia Murphy, director of research at Vetify, and we're going to take a look at an ETF category that's seeing a real uptick in investor interest this year, and that's alternative ETFs. So think multistrategy alternative ETFs, uh, managed futures ETFs, those sorts of products.
And if you look at flows, these are definitely now getting some looks from investors. And so Cynthia and I will discuss some of the drivers behind that.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- alternative etfs
- etf flows
- managed futures
- nasdaq-100 etf
- s&p 500 etf
Companies and tickers mentioned
- VettaFi
- iShares Systematic Alternatives Active ETF
- iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF
- State Street Investment Management
- State Street SPDR Portfolio Nasdaq 100 ETF
- State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF
Watch the episode
Watch “Alternative ETFs, Flows, and State Street’s New Nasdaq-100 ETF” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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ETF Prime, this episode and its artwork belong to Nate Geraci. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
