2025 etf.com Awards
The etf.com Awards honor the most influential, innovative, and impactful global players in the ETF industry. Our expert panel of editors and judges will capture and carefully analyze each nomination for their significant contributions to the ETF industry.
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Categories
Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner: Rob Arnott, Partner & Chairman, Research Affiliates
The Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Rob Arnott. Often referred to as the “Godfather of Smart Beta," Arnott has pioneered several unconventional portfolio strategies that are now widely applied, including tactical asset allocation, global tactical asset allocation, tax-advantaged equity management, and the fundamental index approach to investing.
Nominees
- Rob Arnott, Partner, Chairman, Research Affiliates
- Bruce Bond, Co-founder & CEO, Innovator Capital Management
- Joanna Gallegos, Co-founder & COO, BondBloxx
- George Milling-Stanley, Chief Gold Strategist, State Street Global Advisors
- Bob Pisani, Senior Markets Correspondent, CNBC
ETF of the Year
Winner: Vanguard S&P 500 (VOO)
The ETF of the Year goes to the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO). The fund’s ultra-low expense ratio and market-cap weighting helped investors benefit most from the strongest-performing large-cap stocks driving the S&P 500’s gains in 2024.
Nominees
Best New ETF
Winner: iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)
The Best New ETF award goes to the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). Last year, BlackRock’s IBIT achieved the most successful ETF launch in history by rapidly amassing over $50 billion in assets under management within its first 11 months.
Nominees
ETF Issuer of the Year
Winner: Capital Group
The ETF Issuer of the Year is Capital Group. Pioneering fully transparent models, Capital Group solidified its position as a leading ETF issuer in 2024 by rapidly expanding its suite of actively managed ETFs to more than 20 funds across equity, fixed income and multi-asset categories.
Nominees
- Capital Group
- GraniteShares
- NEOS Investments
- Pacer ETFS
- Roundhill Investments
- State Street Global Advisors
Best New ETF Issuer
Winner: MFS Investment Management
The Best New ETF Issuer is MFS Investment Management. 100 years after introducing its first US open-ended mutual fund, MFS continued its tradition of offering professional management, diversification, transparency, and liquidity in 2024, with its suite of actively managed ETFs.
Nominees
- Fundstrat Capital
- MFS Investment Management
- Peerless ETFs
- Quantify Funds
- StockSnips
Best New U.S. Fixed Income ETF
Winner: AB Short Duration High Yield ETF (SYFI)
The Best New U.S. Fixed Income ETF award goes to AB Short Duration High Yield ETF (SYFI). The fund’s combination of an actively managed, diversified portfolio targeting short-term, high-yield global securities enabled SYFI to outperform 75% of category peers in 2024.
Nominees
Best New U.S. Equity ETF
Winner: Eagle Capital Select Equity ETF (EAGL)
The award for Best New U.S. Equity ETF goes to Eagle Capital Select Equity ETF (EAGL). Taking a selective approach to artificial intelligence, EAGL employs an innovative research-driven strategy designed to outperform through economic cycles while managing to mitigate concentration risk.
Nominees
Best New International Equity ETF
Winner: WisdomTree India Hedged Equity Fund (INDH)
The Best New International Equity ETF award goes to the WisdomTree India Hedged Equity Fund (INDH). This fund quickly distinguished itself as a top-tier international equity ETF in 2024 due to its strategic combination of broad exposure to India's largest companies and a currency-hedging mechanism that mitigates fluctuations between the Indian Rupee and the U.S. Dollar.
Nominees
NEW Active ETF of the Year
Winner: Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF (JAAA)
The award for Active ETF of the Year goes to the Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF (JAAA). Its innovative approach to investing in collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) helped this fund gain immense popularity in 2024 as investors sought a balance of high yields and low relative interest rate risk amid an environment of inflation and market uncertainty.
Nominees
Best New Active ETF
Winner: NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF (QQQI)
The Best New Active ETF award goes to the NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF (QQQI). This fund gained attention in 2024 due to its innovative approach of generating high monthly income and tax efficiency through NASDAQ-100 stocks and call options.
Nominees
Thematic ETF of the Year
Winner: Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF (NUKZ)
The Thematic ETF of the Year award goes to the Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF (NUKZ). Among the best-performing exchange-traded funds of 2024, this fund positions investors to benefit from the increasing global demand for energy and the potential expansion of nuclear power.
Nominees
NEW Commodity ETF of the Year
Winner: Invesco Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Strategy No K-1 ETF (PDBC)
The Commodity ETF of the Year award goes to the Invesco Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Strategy No K-1 ETF (PDBC). This fund provides innovative exposure to a broad basket of commodities without issuing K-1 tax forms, making it a tax-efficient choice for investors seeking diversification in the commodities sector.
Nominees
NEW Leveraged/Inverse ETF of the Year
Winner: GraniteShares 2x Long NVDA Daily ETF (NVDL)
The Leveraged/Inverse ETF of the Year award goes to the GraniteShares 2x Long NVDA Daily ETF (NVDL). In a year when Nvidia’s leadership in AI reshaped the market, NVDL enabled investors to capitalize on this trend through a simple and effective tool.
Nominees
NEW Emerging Markets ETF of the Year
Winner: Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (ARGT)
The Emerging Market ETF of the Year goes to the Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (ARGT). The first and only U.S.-listed ETF to directly target Argentine stocks, ARGT’s inception provided investors access to a top-performing emerging markets country in 2024, rising more than 60%.
Nominees
NEW Crypto ETP of the Year
Winner: iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)
The award for Crypto ETP of the Year goes to the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). Among the spot bitcoin ETFs launched in January 2024, IBIT quickly emerged as the investor favorite, attracting over $50 billion in assets, making it the most successful ETF launch to date.
Nominees
Index Provider of the Year
Winner: CF Benchmarks
The award for Index Provider of the Year goes to CF Benchmarks. This provider significantly advanced cryptocurrency market infrastructure in 2024 by developing regulated, transparent, and reliable cryptocurrency indices, ensuring accurate and representative pricing.
Nominees
- Bloomberg Indices
- Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP)
- CF Benchmarks
- ICE
- MSCI
- Nasdaq
- Research Affiliates
Best New ETF Ticker
Winner: VanEck Bitcoin ETF (HODL)
The award for Best New ETF Ticker goes to VanEck Bitcoin ETF (HODL). This choice of ticker is a deliberate reference to a misspelled word that stands for "Hold On for Dear Life," reflecting the long-term holding philosophy prevalent among cryptocurrency investors.
Nominees
NEW Best Service Provider of the Year
Winner: Tidal Financial Group
The Best Service Provider of the Year award goes to Tidal Financial Group. By offering a comprehensive suite of services—including strategy development, operations support, and marketing—Tidal Financial enables clients to efficiently launch, manage, and grow ETFs, a capability that has positioned them as a leading full-service ETF platform.
Nominees
- BTIG
- Craft & Capital
- Dechert LLP
- Gregory FCA
- Ropes & Gray LLP
- S&P Global Market Intelligence
- Tidal Financial Group
- Ultimus Fund Solutions
2025 etf.com Award Judges
Eric Balchunas
Eric Balchunas
Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
Marguerita Cheng
Marguerita Cheng
CEO at Blue Ocean Global Wealth
Deborah Fuhr
Deborah Fuhr
Managing Partner & Founder at ETFGI
Nate Geraci
Nate Geraci
President of The ETF Store
Lois Gregson
Lois Gregson
Senior ETF Analyst at FactSet
Benjamin Lavine
Benjamin Lavine
CIO at 3D, a Freedom Advisors Company
Aniket Ullal
Aniket Ullal
SVP and Head, ETF Research & Analytics, CFRA
Eric Balchunas
Eric Balchunas
Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
Marguerita Cheng
Marguerita Cheng
CEO at Blue Ocean Global Wealth
Deborah Fuhr
Deborah Fuhr
Managing Partner & Founder at ETFGI
Nate Geraci
Nate Geraci
President of The ETF Store
Lois Gregson
Lois Gregson
Senior ETF Analyst at FactSet
Benjamin Lavine
Benjamin Lavine
CIO at 3D, a Freedom Advisors Company
Aniket Ullal
Aniket Ullal
SVP and Head, ETF Research & Analytics, CFRA
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Methodology
etf.com Award winners are selected in a three-part process designed to leverage the insights and opinions of leaders throughout the ETF industry.
Step 1
The awards process begins with open nominations, which will commence on December 2, 2024 and close on January 10, 2025. Interested parties are invited to submit nominations via the publicly available submission form. Self-nominations are accepted. A single fund/issuer can be nominated for multiple awards as long as it meets the criteria of the category. All entries related to funds are strictly for U.S.-listed ETFs.
Step 2
Following the open nominations process, the etf.com Awards Nominating Committee, made up of etf.com editorial staff, will review nominations. Nominations are screened for eligibility (appropriate timing and category). If more than five unique entries are received in the nomination process, the members of the Nominating Committee will force-rank their top five, resulting in a final slate for each category. Votes will be resolved on a majority basis, and ties broken where possible with head-to-head runoff votes. If ties cannot be broken, more than five finalists are allowed. The Nominating Committee will complete this process and short list of nominees will be published on etf.com on January 30, 2025.
Step 3
Winners among these finalists will be selected by a majority vote of the etf.com Award panel of judges, a group of independent ETF experts from the ETF industry. Judges will recuse themselves from voting in any category in which they or their firms appear as finalists. Ties will be decided where possible with head-to-head runoff votes. Voting will be complete by March 1, 2025. Results will be kept confidential until they are announced at the etf.com Awards ceremony on April 23, 2025 and published on etf.com following the live event.
To view a complete list of previous winners and nominees
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