ETF News You Missed This Week - July 20 - July 24, 2026

ETF Launches

Active Equity Managers Expand Their ETF Offerings

Active equity strategies remained a major focus this week as several firms expanded their ETF offerings. Harding Loevner entered the ETF market with the launch of the International Developed Markets Select Equity ETF (LOEV), bringing its long-established international developed markets strategy into a more tax-efficient vehicle. The actively managed fund applies the firm's proven bottom-up research process to identify high-quality growth companies across developed markets outside the United States.

Alpha Architect also expanded its active lineup with the Alpha Architect US Equity 4 ETF (AAUB), which provides broad exposure to the U.S. equity market through a combination of individual stocks, ETFs, and options. In addition to its diversified approach, the fund incorporates a systematic dividend-timing strategy aimed at improving tax efficiency. AAUB also stands out for launching through a Section 351 tax-deferred in-kind contribution, allowing it to begin trading with an established asset base.

Hotchkis & Wiley continued the industry's shift toward ETF share classes by introducing ETF versions of its International Value Fund (HWIV) and Opportunities Fund (HWO). Rather than creating entirely new portfolios, the firm has wrapped its existing active mutual fund strategies in an ETF structure, allowing investors to benefit from intraday liquidity and the potential tax advantages of ETFs while maintaining the same investment teams and portfolios.

AI Continues to Drive Thematic ETF Innovation

Artificial intelligence remained one of the strongest product themes, with two managers approaching the opportunity from different angles. Tema launched the actively managed Tema Healthcare AI ETF (HLTH), targeting companies applying AI across the healthcare ecosystem. The concentrated portfolio combines thematic research with fundamental analysis to identify businesses positioned to benefit from AI adoption in healthcare and related technology industries.

Defiance ETFs took a broader infrastructure approach with the Defiance AI Hyperscale Leaders ETF (AIHY). Rather than investing directly in AI software developers alone, the fund focuses on the companies building the physical and digital infrastructure supporting artificial intelligence, including cloud providers, semiconductor manufacturers, data center operators, AI software firms, and model developers. The strategy seeks companies that are converting AI investment into measurable revenue and earnings growth.

Specialized Exposure Across Technology and Commodities

Leveraged strategies also continued to evolve. ProShares introduced the Ultra QQQ Equal Weight ETF (EQQQ), the first ETF designed to deliver twice the daily performance of the Nasdaq-100 Equal Weighted Index. By tracking the equal-weighted version of the Nasdaq-100 rather than the traditional market-cap-weighted benchmark, the fund reduces concentration in the largest technology companies while increasing exposure to smaller index constituents, giving traders a different way to express bullish views on large-cap technology.

Commodity investors gained a new quality-focused option with the launch of the First Trust Indxx Quality Precious Metals Miners ETF (PMTL). The ETF tracks an index that selects global precious metals miners using both size and quality metrics, including profitability, leverage, and production costs, with an emphasis on pure-play gold and silver producers.

Defined Outcome ETFs Continue to Grow

Defined outcome ETFs continued their steady expansion with the launch of the FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer & Digital Return ETF – July (DGJL). The fund seeks to provide a target return of approximately 9.37%, before fees, over a one-year outcome period while buffering the first 10% of losses in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), giving investors another option for managing upside participation alongside downside protection.

ETF Filings

AI and Semiconductor Themes Continue to Dominate

Artificial intelligence remained the largest area of product development, led by Tema's proposed lineup of eight thematic ETFs covering increasingly specialized segments of the AI supply chain. The filings include the Tema AI Inference ETF, Actuator ETF, Analog Semiconductor ETF, MLCC ETF, Physical AI ETF, Semicap ETF, Semiconductor Manufacturing ETF, and Semiconductor Substrates ETF, giving investors targeted exposure to technologies supporting AI infrastructure, semiconductor production, and next-generation computing.

Quantify also expanded the AI investment universe with three actively managed ETFs focused on the ecosystems surrounding OpenAI, Anthropic, and defense technology company Anduril. Rather than investing solely in the companies themselves, the proposed funds would combine direct exposure, where possible, with investments in suppliers, cloud providers, semiconductor companies, software firms, data centers, and strategic partners that stand to benefit from the continued expansion of these technology leaders.

AI also appeared in the leveraged ETF space. Defiance filed for a 2x leveraged ETF tied to Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners II (NASDAQ: NANO) ahead of its planned merger with Forge Nano, a company developing atomic layer deposition technology used in AI chip manufacturing and defense battery applications.

Income Strategies Continue to Evolve

Income-focused ETFs also remained an area of innovation. Tema filed for the actively managed Tema Paycheck ETF, which aims to provide investors with distributions approximately every two weeks. The strategy combines equity option-income strategies with credit investments, dividend-paying stocks, senior loans, high-yield bonds, CLO debt, preferred securities, and cash-management holdings, prioritizing steady income generation over capital appreciation.

YieldMax expanded the growing market for options-based income ETFs with the proposed YieldMax Quantum Portfolio Option Income ETF. The fund would combine exposure to quantum computing companies with a covered call strategy designed to generate regular cash distributions, offering investors an income-oriented approach to one of the market's fastest-growing technology themes.

Active Equity Managers Expand Quantitative Strategies

Active equity filings continued to gain momentum as Zacks proposed two new quantitative ETFs built around its proprietary earnings revision models.

The Zacks Small-Cap Core ETF (ZCAP) would focus on U.S. small-cap companies using the firm's quantitative ranking system alongside fundamental research to identify opportunities with alpha potential. Meanwhile, the Zacks All-Cap Core ETF (ALLZ) would apply a similar process across the broader U.S. equity market, combining earnings estimate revisions with valuation analysis and portfolio optimization while maintaining flexibility across sectors and market capitalizations.

Political Prediction Markets Reach the ETF Industry

One of the week's most unusual filings came from Hedgeye Asset Management, which proposed two actively managed ETFs designed to track the evolving election probabilities of the Democratic and Republican parties in U.S. federal elections.

Rather than investing in politically sensitive companies, the funds would gain exposure through election-linked derivatives, including event contracts and swaps tied directly to House, Senate, and presidential races. By continuously rolling exposure into future election cycles, the ETFs aim to provide ongoing access to political prediction markets, marking a significant expansion of exchange-traded products into an entirely new asset class.

Leveraged Single-Stock ETFs Target Upcoming IPOs

Leverage Shares continued expanding its lineup of leveraged and inverse single-stock ETFs by targeting companies preparing to enter the public markets.

The firm filed three ETFs linked to Switch, the data center operator expected to benefit from continued AI infrastructure investment, offering 2x long, 2x short, and 1x inverse daily exposure once the company begins trading.

Leverage Shares also submitted an identical suite of products tied to wearable health technology company Oura, giving traders bullish and bearish leveraged exposure following its anticipated U.S. IPO.

These filings underscore the growing appetite for providing leveraged exposure immediately after high-profile companies begin trading, allowing active traders to express tactical views from the earliest stages of a stock's public market life.

Other Updates

The Matthews Asia Innovators Active ETF (MINV) has become a non-diversified fund following shareholder approval, allowing it to hold larger positions in fewer companies while maintaining its investment strategy. Guinness Atkinson has expanded its Global Innovators Fund into a multi-class structure offering both mutual fund and ETF share classes, with a future mutual fund-to-ETF conversion feature also introduced.

The Guru Favorite Stocks ETF (GFGF) will merge into the Alpha Architect U.S. Equity ETF in October, moving investors into a broader strategy with substantially lower fees. The Langar Global HeathTech ETF will transfer its primary listing from NYSE Arca to Cboe BZX without changing its investment objective or ticker.

Pacer is reducing fees on the Pacer US Export Leaders ETF (PEXL) and Pacer International Export Leaders ETF (PIEL) to 0.49%, while Vanguard is cutting the expense ratio of its FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (VWRL) from 0.19% to 0.14%, marking its second fee reduction in less than a year.

Direxion has updated its leveraged SpaceX ETFs by reducing creation unit sizes and changing the ticker of the Direxion Daily SpaceX Bear 2X ETF to LOFD.

Meanwhile, Defiance ETFs announced plans to liquidate the Defiance BMNR Option Income ETF (YBMN) on or about August 21, with shareholders expected to receive a final cash distribution following the sale of portfolio assets.

Please note this article is for information purposes only and does not in any way constitute investment advice. It is essential that you seek advice from a registered financial professional prior to making any investment decision.