Episode summary
ETFs to Watch in 2026 | Trillions
Trillions
· · Hosts: Eric Balchunas, Joel Weber · Guests: Athanasios Psarofagis, James Seyffart
Summary
Bloomberg Intelligence’s annual ETF watchlist for 2026 centered on where investors may find fresh flows, tax advantages, and thematic upside rather than on simple buy-or-sell calls. The hosts and analysts highlighted active bond strength in BINC, saying Rick Reider’s iShares Flexible Income ETF has become the fastest-growing active ETF ever and could challenge the category leaders. They also pointed to structural ideas like LR&D, which tilts toward companies spending on R&D, and VXUS, which drew a debate over whether international stocks can keep their 2025 momentum.
Several picks tried to capture big macro or policy shifts. OTGL was framed as a Latin America play on rightward political change, MSOS as a potential beneficiary of cannabis reclassification and broader legalization, and ITB as a housing proxy if rates fall and homebuilder sentiment improves. Other selections focused on product innovation: XOVR for private-equity exposure, BOXX for tax-efficient cash-like returns, and BUFB as the ladder buffer ETF that could gain momentum if Goldman pushes Innovator.
The most speculative ideas were also the most memorable. GRFT was presented as a cynical but potentially useful way to trade government-linked business, while UFOD pushed the thematic envelope with an AI-driven basket tied to UFO disclosure and advanced technology. DBMF and RSST rounded out the list as diversifiers for investors who want managed futures alongside equity exposure.
Key takeaways
- BINC was the standout active bond idea, with the hosts saying it has grown to $15 billion and could challenge JPST and even JEPI over time.
- LR&D is a unique bet on companies that spend heavily on R&D, and the analysts said it is beating the S&P 500 in 2025 while charging 14 basis points.
- VXUS remains a debate asset after outpacing the S&P 500 by about 13% in 2025 and pulling in about $17 billion of inflows.
- XOVR got attention because adding private equity and SpaceX exposure drove roughly $300 million in flows and showed demand for private-market access in ETFs.
- BOXX was highlighted as a tax-optimization tool that can turn treasury-bill-like returns into long-term capital gains treatment.
- MSOS, ITB, DBMF and RSST were framed as watchlist names tied to cannabis legalization, housing, and portfolio diversification rather than near-term market calls.
Notable quotes
“we don't talk about companies that are investing in R&D or in like capex and things like that”
“It happened. I mean, it did happen to be fair”
“the tent keeps expanding. This is like pushing the tent far out on one wing of the tent”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts radio news. — Welcome to Trains. I'm Joel Weber — And I'm Eric Belchunis. — Happy New Year. — Happy New Year, buddy. — 2026. We're here. — We made it. — But we're recording this uh in advance so that you know we can sleep in on the holiday. Yeah, that was that was me pretending to be in the future.
Yes. Uh, good job. Um, so as we look to 2026, as always, when we do this on on Trillions, we try and enter the new year with some spotlights on some tickers.
Yeah. This was really born out of me doing the money show, which is a direct to retail conference that they have like in Florida. And it's a lot of like investors who are just looking for cool investments.
And I used to do my like like top down trends PowerPoint. And I could tell like they weren't that into it. But every time I brought up a ticker, they come up after like, "What was the ticker you said?
So I realized they just like tickers. So I did a money show presentation called like 23 ETFs for 2023. And I was like, "This should be a note.
So we started writing that every year. And I got really good feedback on it. People just like tickers, Joel.
Uh at the end of the day, you can tell them all the cool trends, but uh this is like the Silicon Valley of the investing world. And so we know all the gadgets. And here we are going to unearth some stuff that we find interesting.
And people like that. But 26 26 for 26 seemed like maybe a little too much. So we're going to pair it back just a little bit and do 16ish for 26.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- etfs to watch 2026
- etf themes
- etf watchlist
- investment strategies
- bloomberg intelligence
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Bloomberg Intelligence
Watch the episode
Watch “ETFs to Watch in 2026 | Trillions” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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