The first actively managed ETF came to market in 2008, but 100+ funds later, active management in ETFs has struggled to get much traction in the equity space. Out of more than $2 trillion in U.S.-listed ETF assets as of 2015, less than 1% was tied to actively managed funds. Income-generating investments, on the other hand, such as the PIMCO Total Return (BOND) that Bill Gross launched in 2012 and had $2.6 billion in assets under management in 2015 or master limited partnerships have shown more success.
With 256 ETFs traded in the U.S. markets, Active Management ETFs gather total assets under management of $69.75B. The average expense ratio is 0.68%. Active Management ETFs can be found in the following asset classes:
- Equity
- Fixed Income
- Asset Allocation
- Commodities
- Alternatives
- Currency
The largest Active Management ETF is the PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ETF MINT with $12.11B in assets. In the last trailing year, the best performing Active Management ETF was the ARKK at 15.63%. The most-recent ETF launched in the Active Management space was the PGIM QMA Strategic Alpha Small-Cap Growth ETF PQSG in 11/13/18.