Thirst for thematics funds drives active ETF trading, says xyt

European active ETFs enjoyed a strong 2025 with trading up 95% on the previous year, according to stock market data provider xyt.

The growing range of actively managed exchange traded funds saw more than €450m (£390) in daily activity, with funds growing 38% or €23bn, according to a Markets Media report.

Compared to 2020, there are three times as many groups offering active ETFs and eight times as many products spanning most asset classes, markets and sector, including themes such as biodiversity, climate change and genomics.

“Active ETFs were strong performers last year, driven by investor demand and new product launches. Continued inflows in ETFs more broadly reinforces the importance of funds in supporting liquidity and pricing in the underlying market,” said xyt chief executive Robin Mess.

Our view

David Batchelor, senior analyst at QuotedData, said: “xyt has compiled some striking figures on European active ETF activity last year. In percentage terms it is clear that the sector is experiencing exceptional growth, with inflows up by over a third and trading activity almost doubling. We continue to see new launches almost daily and, as we have commented before, these are increasingly ‘thematic’ rather than the algorithmic funds which dominate the larger end of the market. Nonetheless, it must be acknowledged that passives are still the majority of the ETF sector, and in absolute terms continued to grow by nearly ten times the amount of their active cousins last year (€217bn vs €23bn, to give total assets of €2.8tn vs €85bn).”

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