Episode summary
The Future of ETFs: Multi-Share Classes, Crypto, and More
ETF Prime
· · Hosts: Nate Geraci, Simeon Hyman · Guests: Amrita Nandakumar, Roxanna Islam
Summary
The episode focused on three ETF industry shifts: the SEC’s approval of multi-share classes, faster approval pathways for spot crypto ETFs, and the huge year-to-date run in gold and silver miner funds. The guest argued that multi-share classes are a major win for fund companies because they can keep mutual fund assets while entering ETFs more easily, but the real challenge will be operational, commercial, and compliance work behind the scenes. She also warned that the structure could accelerate product proliferation and force investors and advisers to do more due diligence.
On crypto, the guest said generic listing standards should shorten approvals from as long as 240 days to just a couple of months, which could bring a wave of spot products to market. She expects demand to build slowly, with many investors still preferring Bitcoin, while others eventually move toward diversified basket products rather than single-asset bets.
On precious metals, the guest tied the surge in gold and silver miner ETFs to strong underlying commodities, safe-haven demand, and central bank buying. She said miners are leveraged equity plays on gold and silver, which explains both their outsized gains and why flows do not always match performance.
Key takeaways
- The guest said multi-share classes should give fund firms a faster way to enter ETFs without starting from scratch, but the operational lift is still significant.
- The guest expects crypto ETF approvals to speed up sharply under generic listing standards, potentially cutting review time from about 240 days to a couple of months.
- The guest said spot crypto demand will likely build gradually, with many investors still preferring Bitcoin over broader token exposure.
- The guest said gold and silver miners are essentially leveraged plays on the underlying metals, which helps explain their 100%-plus gains this year.
- The guest noted that miners can see outflows even during strong price runs because many investors treat them as tactical trades rather than buy-and-hold holdings.
Notable quotes
“it takes about, you know, up to 240 days or so, which is about 8 months, um, for some of these crypto ETFs to be approved”
“So, this could be cut down to just a couple of months, basically”
“the SEC indicating that they're finally approving Dimensionals's ETF share class structure, which will allow Dimensional to offer an ETF share class of their existing mutual funds”
“there's going to be a lot of uh product out there”
“miners are leveraged plays. So, typically when the underlying commodity does well the miners do even better but when the commodity does poorly the the miners do even worse”
How the episode opens
You know, right now it takes about, you know, up to 240 days or so, which is about 8 months, um, for some of these crypto ETFs to be approved. So, this could be cut down to just a couple of months, basically. So, it's it's going to be a huge difference here.
All right. Joining me will be Amritha Nandkumar, president of Vidant Asset Management, who operates one of the most successful subadvisory businesses in the ETF space. So they are currently the subadvisors on 100 ETFs globally, some 20 billion dollars in assets.
And we'll touch on this, but an ETF subdvisor, they handle a lot of the uh behind the scenes management of an ETF. So everything from portfolio management and trade execution uh to compliance, they can help with product development. The bottom line is that they play a critical role in the functioning of an ETF.
But what's interesting is because of this perch that Almritha occupies in her role with Biden, she has a front row seat to everything occurring within the industry. So she basically sees and hears everything. and we're going to have a fairly wide- ranging conversation around what she is seeing and hearing right now around uh ETF product development.
I want to ask her about the multi-share class structure which essentially just got the green light from the SEC last week. I'm also curious to hear her thoughts on how the SEC is approaching regulation of the ETF industry overall, which obviously that impacts product development. So, a lot we're going to cover and this should truly be an interesting conversation with someone who is one of my favorite ETF resources.
Now, to start, I am joined by another one of my favorite ETF resources, Roxanna Islam, head of sector and industry research at Vetify.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- etf subadvisor role
- multi-share class structure
- lighter-touch regulation
- crypto etfs
- gold and silver miner etfs
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Vident Asset Management
- VettaFi
Watch the episode
Watch “The Future of ETFs: Multi-Share Classes, Crypto, and More” 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.
