Trillions

With each passing year, ETFs pull in trillions of dollars while mutual funds steadily bleed assets. And yet, mutual funds still hold more money overall. Now, a long-standing wall between the two may finally be coming down. Dimensional Fund Advisors has launched the first-ever ETF share class of an existing mutual fund, a structure made possible by the expiration of Vanguard’s once-protective patent. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Joel Schneider, Dimensional’s deputy head of portfolio management for North America, and Katie Greifeld of Bloomberg News. They discuss why Dimensional volunteered to be the guinea pig, why it chose its 45-year-old US Micro Cap Portfolio (ticker: DFMC), and whether this hybrid structure could reshape how trillions of dollars are invested.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the US and Israel's attack of Iran has reminded the world, oil remains as integral as ever to the global economy. But the ETFs for investing in crude come with some caveats—and are a big reason why Bloomberg Intelligence introduced its traffic-light system. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Bloomberg Intelligence's James Seyffart, an ETF analyst, and Vincent Piazza, a senior energy analyst. They discuss Piazza's "delay, disruption and destruction" outlook; how the United States Oil Fund (USO) came back from the dead; and what to know about other noteworthy energy ETFs such as XLE, CRAK and even BWET.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF (FRDM) is having a moment. Launched seven years ago as a way to filter out autocratic emerging market countries and invest more in ones that have more freedom, it took a while to get going but it hasn't recently caught fire with a five year return of over 100%, which is 5x better than the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and even more than the Nasdaq 100. On this episode of Trillions Joel and Eric speak with Perth Tolle, founder at Life + Liberty Indexes and the creator of FRDM, about the ETF's methodology, her experience growing up in China, how her life has changed with all the recent success and comparing and contrasting the US' freedom score with other developed countries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gold and silver exchange-traded funds just experienced eye-popping trading volumes, with sharp price swings that drew in speculators chasing the momentum. The frenzy has cooled a bit, but the underlying forces haven’t disappeared. So what’s really behind the surge in precious metals—and is this just a tactical trade, or something more durable? On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with John Ciampaglia, chief executive of Sprott Asset Management, which manages gold, silver and uranium ETFs among other metals strategies. They discuss the debasement trade, what else is fueling gold’s rally, how gold compares with Bitcoin, what’s driving moves in silver and other metals and how Sprott’s uranium miners ETF generated a 450% return over the past six years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cathie Wood is best known for exchange-traded funds, especially her flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK). But ARK also runs a less familiar product: the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX), an interval fund that holds stakes in private companies such as SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic—firms expected to make a splash when they go public, perhaps as soon as this year. The fund has quietly become one of the few active strategies to outperform the Nasdaq 100, yet it still manages only about $500 million in assets and comes with caveats typical of interval funds (namely illiquidity). On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Wood, Brett Winton and Charles Roberts—the fund’s three portfolio managers—about how they decide which private companies to invest in, how they value assets that don’t trade publicly and whether some of these holdings could eventually find their way into ARK’s ETFs. They also discuss the structural challenges of gaining private-market exposure through ETFs and how issuers and investors are navigating those limits.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Venezuela bonds were up 100% even before the US ousted President Nicolás Maduro. Then they went up another 30%. And one actively-managed exchange-traded fund was positioned perfectly after buying the bonds in 2025. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Jim Craige, portfolio manager of the Virtus Stone Harbor Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF ($VEMY), and Damian Sassower, who oversees emerging markets fixed income for Bloomberg Intelligence. They discuss why Venezuela bonds are surging, how Stone Harbor gained exposure, Craig's overall investing strategy, and how a restructuring might work. They also take a brief tour of VEMY’s other holdings, including countries such as Lebanon and Ecuador that have also seen increased returns.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To kick off the new year, Bloomberg Intelligence has its annual list of ETFs for your stocking-shaped portfolio. While these aren't buy or sell market predictions, the funds are worthy of your watchlist as they may help investors tap into or navigate important themes. And you never know, a few of them could even have a breakout moment you'll find yourself humble-bragging about. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber are joined by Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Athanasios Psarofagis and James Seyffart, who helped write the team's annual report. The episode features 16 ETFs, including the tickers BINC, XOVR, MSOS, BUFB, UFOD, OTGL, VXUS, SBIL, RSST, SPYM, BOXX, GRFT, ITB, PXUI, PCLN and LRND.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Competing in the marketplace for exchange-traded funds — aka "The Terrordome" — is not for the faint of heart. It's like fighting a multi-front war where issuers have to market existing funds; engage in fee wars with the likes of Vanguard and BlackRock; and innovate in a rapidly changing industry, which now includes more than 300 firms. Only the strong thrive. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Brian Hartigan, the global head of ETFs and index investments at Invesco. The fourth-biggest ETF issuer in the US, Invesco has about $800 billion in assets under management and saw inflows of $67 billion in 2025. They discuss how the company competes against the industry's "Big Three," the secret behind QQQ's dramatic success and the surprising staying power of smart-beta ETFs. They also explore whether there are simply too many ETFs and how retail investors should assess volatile assets, like Bitcoin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2025 is arguably the single best year in ETF history as the industry has broken all-time records in the three primary categories: flows, launches and volume. What is behind these numbers and how long can these good times last? On this episode of Trillions, Joel and Eric look at the year that was with Katie Greifeld, reporter and anchor at Bloomberg News and Todd Sohn, senior ETF technical strategist at Strategas Securities. The conversation also includes the boon in leveraged ETFs, option-based funds, industry consolidation and whether small caps or low volatility can ever mount a comeback.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So far this year, some 920 exchange-traded funds have launched in the US alone—a new record. Some are already juggernauts. Others are more about capturing vibes than assets. And then there are some intriguing sleepers that remain under the radar. So, which is the best new addition to the overall investing landscape? On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber welcome colleagues from Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Intelligence — Isabelle Lee, Denitsa Tsekova, Andre Yapp, Vildana Hajric, James Seyffart and Athanasios Psarofagis — to make their cases for the best new ETF of 2025. Executive Editor David Papadopolous returns to Trillions as a highly subjective judge with questionable methodology. Tickers mentioned in this episode include $MEME, $CAIE, $HUMN, $TEXN, $XDIV, $BSOL, $VBIL and $GXLC.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may not know the term autocallable, but you will. There’s a new type of high income ETF that tracks autocallable notes that yield 14% a year and is having instant success with flows coming in every single week since it launched in June. It’s all part of the boom in ETFs using derivatives (instead of stocks or bonds) to generate income streams.  On this episode of Trillions Joel and Eric speak with Matt Kaufman, head of ETFs at Calamos Investments, about how autocallables work and the risks and rewards of investing in ETFs that track them. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The election of Sanae Takaichi as Japan’s first woman prime minister is putting a new spotlight on the country. Markets expect the “Iron Lady,” as she’s known, to continue some of the policies of Shinzo Abe, under whom the yen weakened while equities rocketed. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Jeremy Schwartz, chief investment officer at WisdomTree. They discuss the stellar performance of his flagship Japan Hedge Equity Fund, how Warren Buffett capitalized on Japan’s opportunities, why the country’s high debt-to-GDP ratio matters, what investors can expect from the new prime minister—and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With so many assets at or near all-time highs, a rational investor might wonder how long can the good times last? And is now the time to consider an insurance policy for the inevitable pullback? And also, what sort of downside protection should you use, if any? On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Bloomberg reporters Bernard Goyder and Suzanne Woolley about the spectrum of hedging strategies, many of which now involve exchange-traded funds. At one end are advanced approaches that involve the volatility index, or VIX, which can have big payoffs while also being as dangerous as juggling chainsaws. They also discuss more vanilla options such as Treasuries and gold, as well as buffer ETFs—aka “boomer candy.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The “American dream” has always been about money: financial progression and building wealth. But for many the concept is slipping further and further away as the country’s yawning wealth gap widens. So the question is: can you still climb the proverbial wealth ladder, or is the dream dead? And if there is still room to rise, how important is salary versus investments? How can exchange-traded funds help? On this episode, Joe and Eric speak with Nick Maggiulli, author of the new book, The Wealth Ladder: Proven Strategies for Every Step of Your Financial Life, and chief operating officer and data scientist at Ritholtz Wealth Management. Topics discussed include how the ladder breaks, pros and cons of different strategies for climbing it and how intertwined happiness and wealth are.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Young people are looking for an easier way to accumulate wealth than working a 9-5 job for 40 years. This reluctance to follow the path of their elders has grown the appeal—and assets—of income-generating exchange-traded funds, which can generate anywhere between 2% and 200% yields, sometimes using complex derivatives. This universe of ETFs has exploded in popularity, with the assets ballooning to $750 billion. And while regular payouts may sound alluring, investors might be prioritizing short-term action over long-term gains. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Vildana Hajric, a cross-asset reporter with Bloomberg News, about how these income ETFs work, why they appeal to young investors and what to know about their risks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.