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.

 A relentless barrage of headlines in recent weeks have all centered on exchange-traded funds. For the first time, there are now more ETFs than stocks (4,300 versus 4,200). Also of note, ETFs have also become prized listings for exchanges—perhaps even more than IPOs—because they trade so much. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Dave Nadig, president and director of research at ETF.com, and Athanasios Psarofagis, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. They discuss those stories as well those on passive ownership's increasing complexity; a different way to think about the Magnificent Seven; Vanguard's push into active management; Wall Street not seeing a need for tokenization; and the irony of European ESG equity funds having exposure to the nuclear arms industry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here’s a mind-blowing stat: the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) is the fastest exchange-traded fund in history to hit the $10 billion mark outside of the Bitcoin ETFs. After a slow start, its price has doubled over the past three months, sparking massive inflows just as it hit its first birthday. On this episode or Trillions, Joel Weber and Eric Balchunas look at why Ether is rallying, how big it could get and how investors should view it relative to Bitcoin in a portfolio. They are joined by Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise and Isabelle Lee of Bloomberg News.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ETF "Thunderdome" is an unforgiving and relentless environment. Which makes the exchange-traded funds from JPMorgan Asset Management so noteworthy. Led by its Chief Executive Officer George Gatch, the firm has carved out a unique niche — active ETFs — and then used its institutional muscle to move up the leaderboard while driving down costs. In an era where 75% of all active funds are seeing outflows, JPMorgan has found a way to thrive; in fact, it’s now the fourth biggest active fund company in the US.  On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Gatch about JPMorgan's secret sauce, his strategy in the active category, how his biggest products became such hits, why fixed income remains a promising space, what to watch in private markets and why he's avoiding crypto.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joel, Eric and Athanasios Psarofagis crack open the mailbag to answer some listener questions about ETFs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You just might be able to experience the financial future today. A recent trend in investing has exchange-traded fund issuers creating funds focused on futuristic themes like humanoid robots, alien technology and quantum computing. The hope is to attract investors looking for the next big idea. But needless to say, not all of them will pan out—remember Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse? On this episode of Trillions, Joel Weber and Eric Balchunas look at the recent flurry of futuristic theme ETFs, their prospects for success and how to do due diligence on them. They are joined by Bloomberg cross asset reporter Vildana Hajric.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the hottest themes of 2025 is defense companies as potential US isolationism has other countries scrambling to beef up their military. And within that it is European stocks that have really led the charge. This theme went from rags to riches overnight practically but it's been largely a winner take all category. On this episode of Trillions Joel and Eric speak with Bloomberg Intelligence's Senior ETF Analyst for Europe, Henry Jim about the wild frenzy to launch European defense ETFs around the world to catch this massive wave of returns.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The narrative all year was "sell America" yet the stock market is positive on the year and flirting with all time highs after coming back from a brutal Q1. Like COVID this is a rally few predicted although this time the market didn't have the Fed's help. What happened? Why was everyone was so wrong?On this episode of Trillions, Joel and Eric talk about the wide gap between narrative and price and why US investors are simply not giving up on US stocks. They are joined by Athanasios Psarofagis of Bloomberg Intelligence and Isabelle Lee of Bloomberg News.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In investing, there are many “rules.” And the rules are intended to help you, dear investor, make money. But if you’ve been around money — and especially if you’ve been around a lot of money … managing other people’s money, say — you know that people make a lot of mistakes, too. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Barry Ritholtz, the co-founder, chairman and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management and host of the Bloomberg podcast Masters in Business, about his new book, How Not to Invest. They discuss several of Ritholtz’s hot takes — all rooted in what not to do with your money.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During her time as a commissioner at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Hester Peirce has often been a dissenting voice—especially on all things crypto. Now, as she approaches the official end of her term, her legacy may include an SEC that’s more aligned with the positions she championed. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber—along with stacy-marie ishmael, head of cross-asset and crypto coverage for Bloomberg News—interview Peirce at the SEC’s offices in Washington. Peirce discusses her search for “crypto clarity,” why “merit” doesn’t matter and how the SEC will evaluate the 80-plus crypto-themed exchange-traded fund filings—including ones involving Trump. She also discusses the “terribly mismanaged” process for Bitcoin ETFs and other hot topics including private assets and share classes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s that time of the year. Exchange, the big exchange-traded fund conference, was held in Las Vegas this year and brought together many in the ETF industry to talk shop and network. This year's big theme was ETF share class and the selloff in stocks, but no stones were left unturned under the scorching Nevada sun. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber go over Balchunas’s “man on the street” interviews with several of the attendees at Exchange, including representatives from VettaFi, Franklin Templeton, Natixis, FactSet, CF Benchmarks and ETF Guide.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day,” stock markets around the world plunged. Yet just 13 hours after Trump’s tariffs took effect, the president paused them for 90 days — for countries not named China, that is. Markets soared in response to Trump’s backpedaling. The S&P 500 Index climbed almost 10% while the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped by the most since 2001. The Trump put, or the belief that the president uses the stock market as his scoreboard, appears to be alive and well after all. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber discuss what just happened, how ETFs fared and where cracks appeared. They also assess flows, volume and what to watch next.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is not your grandfather’s exchange-traded fund industry. What started as boring, predictable and passive has morphed into strategies and packaged trades being packed into new ETFs. These include leverage, options overlays and private assets. Given all of this upheaval, some from the old school are worried investors aren’t receiving the exposure and protection from issuers they think they are. On this episode of Trillions, Joel Weber and Eric Balchunas talk to ETF veteran and author Dave Nadig about his buzzworthy blog post in which he borrows language from the hacker world, describing ETFs as “black hat” versus “white hat.” To figure out what these developments mean for the industry, they are joined by cross-asset reporter Vildana Hajric.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First Trust, the sixth-largest issuer of US exchange-traded funds, has managed to stay mostly under the radar in the investing world — and yet it's also perfected a lucrative, Vanguard-proof business model. The company's products are directed more at financial advisors than the retail world, and their funds, most of which are actively managed, have higher fees than typical index-tracking ETFs. Enter the First Trust sales force, which wields steak dinners, personal coaching, sports tickets and Hermès scarves to win business — practices that have attracted the attention of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Bloomberg News reporters Emily Graffeo and Max Abelson about their recent First Trust story, “An All-American Finance Empire Drew Billions—and a Regulator’s Attention,” for Bloomberg Businessweek. They discuss CEO Jim Bowen's approach, how the company has distinguished itself from competitors, and why Finra is investigating the company's sales tactics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

European stocks are off to a strong start this year—one of their best ever in fact and easily beating the US market. But can it last? Will US tech stocks come roaring back again? And are there any reasons to invest in Europe besides stocks there just being “cheap?” On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Gina Martin Adams, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief equity strategist, and Todd Sohn, senior exchange-traded fund and technical strategist at Strategas Securities. They discuss Europe’s fundamentals, the market’s limitations and why it’s outperforming now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s something special about the US stock market these days—it’s almost beyond comprehension how it keeps kicking out consistently big returns. Sure, other markets have nice runs now and again, but they’re usually short-lived and almost microscopic compared to the US. Why is that? And how long can this level of dominance last? On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Steve Hou, a quantitative researcher at Bloomberg Indices, who’s written a number of white papers on innovation, pricing power and turnaround companies. They discuss why US companies are rewarded for innovation while companies elsewhere are not, how to measure and invest in a successful strategy, which attributes make US corporate culture and its economy unique and where the competition is going to come from in the future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Municipal bonds are the foundation of how American cities and states operate. And a big reason investors love “munis” is their tax-free status. But if you think that makes muni exchange-traded funds sound boring, think again. On this episode, Eric and Joel speak with Eric Kazatsky, head of municipal strategy at Bloomberg Intelligence and co-host of the podcast Masters of the Muniverse. They discuss the storied history of munis, how they figure into portfolios—and how that favored tax-free status could be at risk in President Donald Trump’s second term.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will the first private credit exchange-traded fund launch in 2025? How many new crypto-related ETFs will come to market this year? And how will the battle of the S&P 500 funds shake out? Will BlackRock’s iShares Core S&P 500 ETF cut fees in an effort to stop Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF from passing State Street’s SPDR S&P 500 ETF in assets?  On this episode of Trillions, the discussion leaves no stone unturned. Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber—along with cross-asset reporter Vildana Hajric—grill Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, over his five big predictions for 2025. The heated debate also explores single-stock ETFs and a maneuver called “351 exchanges.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gold or Bitcoin? The answer to that question—as always—depends on whom you ask. Yet the response will regularly be a passionate one. The exchange-traded fund has played an enormous role in making both assets more accessible, part of the reason 2024 was such a banner year. With the debut of spot Bitcoin ETFs and Donald Trump’s election (given his embrace cryptocurrency during the campaign), we now look to what the new year means for both. On this episode of Trillions, recorded at Bloomberg’s “ETFs in Depth” event on Dec. 12 in New York, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber discuss the two sectors with Simeon Hyman of ProShares, David Lavalle of Grayscale and George Million-Stanley of State Street Global Advisors. The group explores gold and Bitcoin as a store of value, how each asset can benefit investors and even how the two can coexist in a single portfolio. They also discuss what to make of Trump’s recent enthusiasm for crypto and how their companies are preparing for the incoming administration.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's pretty safe to say that 2024 was the best year ever for ETFs. The industry saw record flows of $1 trillion, a record 670 new launches and a 30% jump in assets- not to mention that record smashing bitcoin ETF launch. So how do you top that? On this episode of Trillions Joel and Eric host a roundtable discussion on highlights from 2024 as well as predictions for 2025 with Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, Vildana Hajric, reporter with Bloomberg News and Athanasios Psarofagis, ETF Analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US large cap stocks have had an unbelievable run, and this year has been no exception. But how much longer can this Magnificent 7-driven winning streak really last? What kind of moves should investors consider making? And which products should they use? ETF strategists ponder questions just like this, and they're experts at figuring out how to meet the moment — or realize an idea — with the right product. On this episode of Trillions, Joel and Eric speak with John Davi, CEO of Astoria Portfolio Advisors, about his Top 10 — or maybe it's 14? — ETFs that he likes in 2025. These ETFs include small caps, commodities, mortgage-backed bonds, IPOs and financial stocks. They also discuss his overall view of the market as well as the ETF industry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The House That Jack Bogle Built” is alive and well in sleepy Malvern, Pennsylvania. So far this year, the asset management firm that pioneered low-cost investing—so much so that “beta” is almost free now—has hoovered up another $256 billion of inflows into its US exchange-traded funds. But as the company nears its 50th anniversary, can it continue to succeed without changing its tried-and-true ways? On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Vanguard’s Janel Jackson, head of bank and institutional in the company’s Financial Advisor Services division. They discuss her time at Vanguard, how she discovered the power of ETFs, why the company remains “true to label” despite the industry’s love of “spicy” products and even where Vanguard might look to push the envelope. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the year’s hottest investments? Bitcoin, which has surged on exchange-traded fund adoption as well as the return of the “Trump trade.” One way to go especially big on that bet is two new leveraged ETFs: MSTX and MSTU, which are 2X MicroStrategy—a company that’s already a highly exposed Bitcoin proxy. Both ETFs effectively give investors a 4X exposure to Bitcoin. If that sounds volatile, it is: MSTX is the most volatile ETF in the US. Consider this space the “ghost pepper” of hot sauces. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Sylvia Jablonski, the CEO and CIO of Defiance ETFs—the issuer behind MSTX. They discuss how the product came into existence, what the Trump trade has meant for inflows, why there’s a modest rivalry with MSTU already, how investors are using options on the product and what makes a good “ghost pepper.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As with humans, death is a part of life in the exchange-traded fund industry. There have been about 150 closures this year, which may be a bit surprising given how almost everything is up in the markets. So what’s behind this year’s class of liquidated ETFs? And what does it mean for investors? On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber dig into the stories and answer the “why” behind some of the closures in 2024. On hand to assist is Vildana Hajric, a cross-asset reporter for Bloomberg, and Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Derivatives-enhanced exchange-traded funds have become a hit with retail investors. There’s been more than 160 such launches so far this year, with monikers such as “laddered buffer” and “covered call,” and they’ve attracted $50 billion and counting. While many of the products were designed to protect from downturns, some include options that can generate cash, which comes back to investors in the form of dividends. (Did someone say “yields”?) On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Denitsa Tsekova and Vildana Hajric, Bloomberg cross-asset reporters who wrote a recent feature story about this new retail boom. The group is also joined by Todd Akin, a retail trader behind the Unconventional Wealth Ideas YouTube channel and one of the characters in their story. They discuss why these ETFs have become so popular, how they work—and what the risks are.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new competition has begun to see who can successfully solve an investing paradox: how to package illiquid, private assets into liquid, public exchange-traded funds. State Street, in partnership with Apollo, officially kicked off this race with a recent filing. If approved, their offering would make one of Wall Street's fastest-growing corners—private credit—open to a much wider world than just institutional investors. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Vildana Hajric, a cross-asset reporter at Bloomberg News, about the details of the filing, why more filings are expected, what to know about Apollo’s “liquidity backstop” and why all of this is such a potential game-changer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For every stock that enters an index like the S&P 500 or Russell 1000, another must exit. One might assume these “deletions” are a sorrowful bunch whose demotion to the B-team means they’re no longer worthy of your portfolio. Yet Rob Arnott, founder of Research Affiliates and a longtime champion of “smart beta,” discovered that many of these rejects tend to perform better after being dropped from the indexes. On this episode, Eric and Joel speak with Arnott about his new exchange-traded fund, $NIXT, which holds dozens of such stocks with equal-weighting. They discuss how the ETF—Arnott’s first launch—may complement your portfolio, what’s behind the performance, how the portfolio rebalances and why smart beta has endured.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The idea of using leverage to layer one investment return, say equities, on top of another, say a managed futures strategy, is something institutional investors have been doing for decades under the term “portable alpha.” Now a suite of young, fast-growing exchange-traded funds have come along—they’re called “return stacking” ETFs—and they’re offering such layering to the masses. On this episode, Joel and Eric speak with Corey Hoffstein, chief executive and chief information officer of Newfound Research and one of the masterminds behind the Return Stacked ETF suite. They discuss how these ETFs work, where they fit in a portfolio and why this is a more responsible use of leverage than the kind that blew up the market in 2008. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While exchange-traded funds have become increasingly popular and people are more familiar with them, there are still aspects of ETFs that—for some—remain shrouded in mystery. So we recently asked our followers on social media to send us any ETF questions they may have or topics they were curious about. We received a ton of responses. On this episode of Trillions, Joel Weber and Eric Balchunas answer about 20 of these questions—ranging from whether ETFs will be in 401(k) plans someday to how overnight trading works to our thoughts on some of the new iterations of ETFs, like buffers, return stacking and crypto. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which were finally introduced earlier this year after intense regulatory scrutiny, have already become some of the most successful ETF launches ever. For months it seemed that spot ETFs for Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, might linger in a similar purgatory — and then, after some back and forth with issuers, regulators finally blessed them. About 10 products began trading in mid-July; they've seen healthy inflows, though Bitcoin ETFs were in a different league. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber welcome stacy-marie ishmael, an executive editor at Bloomberg News who oversees crypto, digital payments and cross-asset coverage, to the podcast. They discuss the differences between Bitcoin and Ether, what happened during the approval process, how the various Ether ETFs compare, what we've learned since their launch, and what this might mean for future crypto ETFs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nvidia's ascent into one of the world's biggest companies was as fast as it was dramatic. The company's startling rise has sparked new ETFs to launch and propelled others to record heights. Nvidia's dominance is also changing indexes and weightings, which can have a dramatic impact on investors—especially when a rebalance gets a little wild. On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Athanasios Psarofagis of Bloomberg Intelligence and Emily Graffeo of Bloomberg News about the myriad ways Nvidia is impacting the ETF universe. They also reveal which ETFs have outperformed without a boost from Nvidia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.