Episode summary
Top ETF Launches of the Decade & Morgan Stanley’s ETF Strategy
ETF Prime
· · Hosts: Nate Geraci, Simeon Hyman · Guests: Cinthia Murphy, Ally Wallace
Summary
The episode opens with a countdown of the 10 most successful ETF launches of the past decade, measured by today’s assets. Cynthia Murphy argues that the list is really a study in how ETFs win by solving investor problems through lower fees, better distribution, strong performance, or perfect timing. The biggest themes were fee compression, model portfolio placement, and products that matched a specific market regime, from gold and cash management to dividend income and options overlays.
The top of the list was dominated by familiar winners: QQQM at number one with over $97 billion, SGOV at number two with over $91 billion, and IBIT at number three with over $58 billion. Murphy and the host pointed to cheaper “mini” versions of established funds, plus BlackRock’s distribution machine and Bitcoin’s powerful asset-gathering effect, as key drivers. JP Morgan stood out with three entries in the top 10, reflecting the success of JPST, JEPQ, and JEPI in short-term income and options-income strategies.
The second half of the episode shifted to Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s ETF strategy with Alli Wallace. She said the firm is building around its existing investment brands—Eaton Vance, Calvert, and Parametric—while leaning heavily into active management, fixed income strength, and conversions of long-running mutual funds. Wallace said the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF, MSBT, was designed to be highly competitive on price and distribution, and that the firm sees future growth in active fixed income, crypto, and a more complete equity lineup.
Key takeaways
- Cynthia Murphy said the biggest ETF launch winners tend to combine low fees, strong distribution, and perfect timing, not just good investment ideas.
- QQQM’s rise to over $97 billion was driven by cheaper exposure to the Nasdaq 100 and a huge run in technology and AI-related stocks.
- Murphy said SGOV’s success likely came from being about 35% cheaper than BIL for cash-like Treasury exposure.
- Alli Wallace said Morgan Stanley’s ETF strategy is built around active management and the firm’s Eaton Vance, Calvert, and Parametric brands.
- Wallace said MSBT was launched with competitive pricing and distribution in mind, and the firm expects to use it across its wealth platform and models.
Notable quotes
“what I love about the list is is that it really tells a story about ETFs that solved investor problems at those times”
“as we known in the ETF business, it's all about distribution”
“Our aim is to bring our best investment capabilities to market in the ETF rapper”
How the episode opens
Our aim is to bring our best investment capabilities to market in the ETF rapper and that as you said is across the different brands. All right, joining me will be Alli Wallace, global head of ETFs for Morgan Stanley Investment Management, who's now up to 20 ETFs, nearly 14 billion in assets, including their most recent launch, the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF, ticker MSBT, which that's already at 250 million in assets after just launching in early April. But they have an interesting lineup overall with ETFs branded under Eaton Vance, Calvert, and Parametric in addition to that Morgan Stanley branded Bitcoin ETF.
And so Ally and I are going to have a conversation around how the firm is positioning and approaching the uh EETF market and how they're thinking about product development moving forward. And we'll also spotlight several of those ETFs, including that spot bitcoin ETF. Now, to start this week, I'll be joined by Cynthia Murphy, director of research at Vetify.
And this should be fun. We are going to look at the top 10 ETF launches over the past 10 years. So, the 10 most successful ETFs that have come to market over the past decade.
And I will say there are a couple of uh caveats to this list, which I'll explain for you. But regardless, there are some very noteworthy stories to be found in these 10 ETFs. And I also think several of these ETFs might surprise some people.
So we'll go through that list here in a moment. As always, questions or comments, you can find me on Xnate Jerase or you can go to ETFprime.com. So let's start this week with Vetify Cynthia Murphy who is joining me from Chicago.
Cynthia, it is always a pleasure. Welcome back to the podcast.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- etf launch performance
- morgan stanley etf strategy
- etf market evolution
- bitcoin etf
- etf research
Companies and tickers mentioned
- MS
- VettaFi
- Morgan Stanley
Watch the episode
Watch “Top ETF Launches of the Decade & Morgan Stanley’s ETF Strategy” 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.
