ETF launches fall to eight in week to Oct. 27, an eight-week low

ETF launches fell to eight in the week to Oct. 27 from 28 the week before, the lowest weekly count in eight weeks, according to The Daily Network's analysis of SEC filings and issuer records. Closures were zero for a fourth straight week. The other seven weeks ran from 22 to 50 launches. The eight-week total was 257, about 32 a week.

Three of the week's eight launches were Tradr 2X Long daily funds on COHR, LEU and MPWR, all under Investment Managers Series Trust II. Their tickers are COHX, LEUX and MPWX. Listed Funds Trust added three more: HDAI, the Overlay Shares Nasdaq 100 Income ETF (OVQ) and the xETFs Samsung Group ETF (SMNG). John Hancock's ETF trust added JIDG. Seven of the eight funds launched on Oct. 23, according to SEC EDGAR effectiveness filings and issuer records. The eighth, AIPW from ETF Series Solutions, launched on Oct. 21. None of the eight came from a Tidal trust, although Tidal Trust V launched three funds on Oct. 20: AIBN, CHQT and HYPU.

For fund selectors weighing closure risk on new products, 45 ETFs closed over the eight weeks, 40 of them in the first two weeks, according to the same filings and records. Weekly closures ran 11, 29, four and one from the week of Sept. 8 through the week of Sept. 29. Across the period, that is about one closure for every six launches. The chart below shows both series by week, and the table lists the eight launches.

New-fund registration filings (485APOS) fell to 17 in the week to Oct. 27 from 27 the week before, the lowest of the eight weeks, according to SEC EDGAR filings. Total filings rose to 99 from 59.

Effectiveness filings (485BPOS) drove the increase, jumping to 81 from 30. Only the week of Sept. 29, at 89, was higher. The count is not a measure of new ETF supply. The 25 filings in the table below are all 485BPOS filings dated Oct. 27. Fidelity trusts filed nine of them, J.P. Morgan trusts four and PIMCO trusts two. There were no N-1A filings this week, against two the week before, and no 19b-4 filings in any of the eight weeks.

EA Series Trust filed 20 times over the eight weeks, the most of any trust, according to SEC EDGAR filings. GraniteShares ETF Trust, Themes ETF Trust and Tidal Trust II followed with 17 each. Tidal Trust II, V and I together accounted for 44 filings. EA Series Trust, GraniteShares and Themes are not among the eight largest launch issuers over the same period.

Five Tidal trusts launched 117 of the 257 ETFs that came to market in the eight weeks to Oct. 27, about 46%, according to SEC filings and issuer records. Tidal Trust V launched 41, Tidal Trust I 31, Tidal Trust II 22, Tidal Trust IV 15 and Tidal Trust III eight. Tidal Trust V's 41 was more than double the 16 from Kurv ETF Trust, the largest issuer outside Tidal. Kurv, Managed Portfolio Series (14) and First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV (seven) launched 37 funds combined, the only other issuers in the top eight.

Funds classed as 'Other' made up 167 of the 257 launches, about 65%, according to the same filings and records. Dividend and income funds came next at 21, followed by international and emerging markets at 12, sector and thematic at 11, option income at nine and US large cap and broad market at seven. Categories are assigned from each fund's registered name. Several recent launches, including HDAI, JIDG and AIPW, are listed under their tickers alone, so 'Other' likely includes funds that could not be classified and overstates how much of the pipeline is niche strategy.