Episode summary
ETF Market Check-In 2025: Flows, Top Stories & What’s Next
ETF Prime
· · Hosts: Nate Geraci, Simeon Hyman · Guests: Cinthia Murphy, Daniel Noonan
Summary
ETF flows were extraordinarily strong through the first three quarters of 2025, with the host and a guest pointing to $845 billion in year-to-date inflows and nearly $300 billion just in the third quarter. The discussion highlighted the persistence of low-cost “mini” ETFs such as SPLG and QQQM, the dominance of VO’s inflow run, and the continued surge in active ETFs, which have topped $1 trillion in assets and captured roughly 40% of flows.
The guest said crypto was the biggest ETF story of the year, citing strong adoption of spot bitcoin and ether funds, improving regulatory clarity, and adviser interest rising as the market structure improves. They also argued that diversification has quietly gained traction, with non-equity, non-bond categories taking about 12% of flows despite representing less than 4% of total assets. By contrast, the long-expected private asset ETF boom has disappointed so far, with less than $90 million flowing into State Street’s public and private credit ETF since February.
The second half of the episode focused on Cohen & Steers’ ETF debut and its strategy around real assets and alternative income. The firm said it entered the space to meet client demand for ETFs while keeping its active, specialized approach intact across real estate, preferred securities, and natural resources. The guest argued those niches remain inefficient enough for active management to add value, especially as investors reassess concentration risk, inflation sensitivity, and the limits of market-cap-weighted portfolios.
Key takeaways
- The host and a guest said ETF inflows are on pace to beat last year’s record, with $845 billion year to date and the fourth quarter still ahead.
- The guest called crypto the top ETF story, pointing to more than $32 billion in 2025 flows into spot bitcoin and ether ETFs and growing adviser acceptance.
- The guest said diversification is gaining real traction, with alternatives, commodities, asset allocation, and crypto taking about 12% of flows despite under 4% of assets.
- Cohen & Steers entered ETFs in February with three active funds in real estate, preferred securities, and natural resources to translate its specialist alpha process into the ETF wrapper.
- The guest said private asset ETFs have disappointed so far because the underlying exposures are hard to package into a daily liquid vehicle.
- The guest expects active ETFs in inefficient markets to keep winning as investors worry about market concentration, inflation, and the durability of mega-cap leadership.
Notable quotes
“we would have to be crypto, Nate. Uh, which I'm sure will make you happy”
“Active ETFs hit over a trillion dollars in assets”
“I think the other thing has been interesting is you know every year we talk about the important importance of diversification and um I think this year the actual appetite for diversification has been impressive”
“the answer has definitively moved to yes because for for a number of reasons”
How the episode opens
And I'm curious, if you had to pick a top ETF story so far this year, what would that be?
I think we would have to be crypto, Nate. Uh, which I'm sure will make you happy. All right.
Joining me will be Daniel Nan, executive vice president and head of the wealth management consulting group at Cohen and Stairs, who back in February, they entered the ETF space with a launch of three actively managed ETFs. And of course, this continues an absolute parade of larger asset managers entering ETFs. Cohen and Steers manages some $90 billion overall.
So, it's a huge shop, which again, we've seen a lot of these coming into ETFs over the past few years, but Cohen and Steer specializes in real assets, and alternative income. And if you look at the three ETFs they've brought to market so far, you can certainly see that these cover real estate, preferred securities, and natural resources. So, we're going to take a look at those ETFs and then we're also just going to have a broader conversation around active management and the rise of active ETFs and the current environment uh in the markets overall.
So, it should be again an excellent conversation. Now, to start this week, I am joined by Cynthia Murphy, investment strategist at Vetify. And I thought since the third quarter is quickly winding down here, it might be a good time for us to take a little breather and look back on the year ETF so far and also look ahead to the remainder of the year as well.
And so let me now welcome in Cynthia who's joining us from Chicago. Cynthia, how are you uh doing? Great having you on the podcast.
Hey Nate, I'm doing great. I'm excited to be here and I'm excited to uh proudly wear my Missou t-shirt uh to remind you that KU lost after 12 years of waiting for the game.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- etf flows
- active management momentum
- real assets etfs
- alternative income strategies
- 2025 outlook
Companies and tickers mentioned
- VettaFi
- Cohen & Steers
Watch the episode
Watch “ETF Market Check-In 2025: Flows, Top Stories & What’s Next” 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.
