Everyone’s Launching an ETF… But Should They?
There’s a practical smorgasbord of choices when it comes to launching ETFs these days, from mutual fund conversion, to share classes, to 351 exchanges and more. Brittany Christensen of Tidal offers an insider’s view on launch trends and challenges from one of today’s most prominent white label ETF platforms.
Launching an ETF is a real business decision that more and more managers are piling into, and Brittany Christensen, SVP, Head of Business Development at Tidal Financial Group, offers insider perspective to the current launch and conversion environment with ETF.com's Dave Nadig at the ICI 2026 ETF conference.
When it comes to new launches, Christensen shares that conversions are still winning out over share classes right now, primarily because managers don't want to be the first in line working out share class stumbling blocks. And for those launching fresh, most managers give themselves a 2-3 year runway to make it work. With hundreds of launches flooding the market, advisors and investors would do well to remember that a natural cleanup cycle of closures is on the horizon as the 2-year clock ticks down. Meanwhile, capacity is the quiet worry everyone's circling. Market makers like Jane Street and Susquehanna are already stretched thin, and Tidal sees itself in more of a consolidator role currently, bridging relationships between mutual fund managers and market makers who might not pick up the phone for a solo operator, but will for a platform representing 400+ funds.
The ETF wrapper has also proven to be resilient, no matter how weird or niche the underlying structure gets. Auto-callables and RIA aggregators building simplified, tickerized model portfolios are the hot growth areas right now. Meanwhile, 351 exchanges are having a moment too, which Christensen compared as the same kind of excitement as upgrading from a BlackBerry to an iPhone. For now though, everyone still seems to be waiting on the IRS for clearer rules of the road.
On the distribution side, Christensen's advice flips the usual script: figure out who the fund is for before obsessing over platform access at Schwab or Fidelity. Getting onto a platform doesn't matter if the product was never built with that platform's advisors in mind. It's a subtle but important reminder that ETF success is about fit, not just access. Tune into the full conversation that offers an inside view of the challenges of bringing an ETF to market these days from one of today's prominent white label ETF platforms.
