Speaking at a JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) event in London, Travis Spence, the firm’s global head of exchange-traded funds (ETF) said the industry will continue to evolve with the ongoing proliferation of active ETFs.
“Active has really been driving the overall ETF industry,” Spence said. “Remember, active is an industry that did not exist in ETFs 10 years ago. In the last five years, it’s been growing at double the rate of the ETF industry.”
JPMAM projects that the active ETF space alone will surge from some US$1.3 trillion today to $6 trillion globally by 2030.
Commenting on the rise of active ETF launches compared to their passive counterparts since 2020, Spence noted that this is no longer “just a handful of launches” but “the majority”, with active ETFs accounting for half of all launches so far this year, and as much as 80 per cent in the US.
“2020 was the first year there were more active ETFs issued than passive ETFs ever, and that continued every single year after,” Spence said. “That follows the evolution of the overall industry.”
While active ETFs initially emerged in non-traditional areas such as derivative income strategies, he observed that over the past three years, new launches have increasingly focused on traditional, core categories.
“That’s interesting because that’s the bulk of people’s portfolios, and these are the same sectors where mutual funds have been won and lost,” Spence told InvestorDaily’s sister brand Money Management on the sidelines of the conference.
“That’s where the industry will evolve. These core sectors are where you want to have active management.”
He further predicted that the fixed income ETF market will similarly continue to flourish – almost tripling in size from US$2.5 trillion to US$6 trillion by 2030, with active fixed income ETFs rising to at least US$1.7 trillion over the next five years.
“We’re seeing much bigger growth in overall fixed income ETFs now, I forecast it could get from US$2.5 trillion to US$6 trillion in the next five years,” the ETF lead said.
“The active fixed income ETF part of the market is about US$350 billion ... and I think that will get to US$1.7–2.0 trillion in the next five years so there’s really strong demand.”
Trackinsight’s 2025 Global ETF Survey Report, produced with JPMAM and S&P Dow Jones Indices, revealed that as of 28 February, there were 3,307 active ETFs listed globally, representing 27 per cent of all ETFs worldwide.
Launch activity underscores this shift. In 2024, active ETFs accounted for 51 per cent of all new listings globally, surpassing passive strategies for the first time. That momentum has only grown, with active making up 60 per cent of launches in early 2025.
In Australia alone, active ETFs made up approximately 37 per cent of all ETF listings and over 15 per cent of total industry assets.
