The ETF industry's newest asset class is absurdity: Chart of the Day
The ETF industry's newest asset class has reached absurd levels, according to a recent analysis. Wall Street is turning almost any concept into an ETF, from hockey teams to AI secret ingredients. CME announced plans for futures tied to NHL teams' on-ice performance, prompting Volatility Shares to file for 32 ETFs, one for each team.
Over 900 ETFs have launched in 2026, pushing the year towards a record with nearly five months left. Baird Strategas's Todd Sohn doubts the hockey ETFs will materialize, but he acknowledges that ridiculous names don't always mean ridiculous ideas. The ETF has become a universal front-end for financial exposure, allowing Wall Street to package virtually any trade.
The Jensen fund takes this concept further by using a rolling 30-day window of a public figure's speeches to identify investment themes for a portfolio of 15 to 40 stocks. The "Magnificent Seven" nickname has already been turned into an ETF, and Global X filed for a "Magnificent Six" ETF, excluding Tesla. While CME's team-performance futures could provide a way to hedge economic exposure to team performance, there are questions about market makers' ability to hedge these funds and how ETF prices would track their underlying value during the offseason.
Sohn emphasizes the importance of having a clear solution and distribution plan when launching an ETF in a highly competitive market.
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