TLDR: U.S. ETF launches reached a record two-month pace, with about 390 new funds entering the market in total. Derivatives power 54% of this year’s launches, while leveraged and inverse fund
The U.S. ETF market is adding products at record speed, with issuers favoring leveraged, inverse, and derivatives-based strategies. A Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs chart shared by The Kobeissi Letter showed about 390 launches during the latest two-month period.
The US ETF industry is seeing unprecedented growth:
There have been ~390 US-listed ETF launches over the last 2 months, the largest 2-month increase on record.
This figure has more than tripled since the start of 2024.
As a result, more ETFs have launched over the last 2… pic.twitter.com/T9gx8TwfxC
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) August 1, 2026
That marked the largest increase since the series began in 2016 and exceeded the early-2024 pace by more than three times. Issuers therefore introduced more funds in two months than during 2024’s first half.
The composition of the launch wave has changed alongside its scale. Kobeissi reported that derivatives power 54% of this year’s new products, while leveraged or inverse funds represent more than one-third.
Moreover, fund managers have filed applications for over 1,000 leveraged products. These filings show issuers expanding short-term trading tools linked to stocks, cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence, and other volatile industries.
Although industry totals vary, every major dataset points to a record product-development cycle. The differences arise as research firms count listings, registrations, share classes, and global products using separate methodologies.
For instance, Morningstar data cited by the Financial Times counted 1,084 new ETFs by mid-July. That total was already approaching the full-year 2025 record of 1,161 launches.
Similarly, MarketWatch recorded 953 launches during 2026 through July 23. While the figures are not directly comparable, both confirm that the pace of new product creation has accelerated sharply.
Regulatory changes have also supported this expansion. In 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted Rule 6c-11, creating a standardized operating framework for qualifying ETFs.
As a result, fund managers no longer faced the same costs and delays associated with seeking individual exemptive orders. The rule therefore gave established firms and smaller specialists a simpler route to market.
At the same time, investor assets continued moving toward exchange-traded products. Investment Company Institute data showed that U.S. ETF assets reached $15.60 trillion in May 2026.
ICI also reported that domestic ETF assets increased from $2.1 trillion in 2015 to $13.4 trillion by the end of 2025. This growth reflected broader adoption among retail investors, financial advisers, and institutions.
However, leveraged and inverse products differ substantially from conventional index funds. These products commonly use swaps, futures, or options to deliver a multiple of an asset’s daily return.
According to SEC warnings, most leveraged and inverse ETFs reset their exposure after every trading session. Consequently, returns over longer holding periods can differ sharply from the advertised daily multiple.
This divergence results from daily compounding, market volatility, and continuous portfolio rebalancing. Moreover, single-stock products concentrate exposure and can lose most or all their value during extreme price movements.
At the same time, fund closures have increased alongside launches. MarketWatch reported that 73 leveraged or inverse ETFs had closed by July 23, triple the number shuttered throughout 2025.
These figures show that issuers are testing increasingly narrow products before discontinuing those that fail to attract sufficient assets or trading volume. As a result, investors must examine each fund more carefully.
Fees, liquidity, trading spreads, derivatives exposure, daily-reset mechanics, and long-term fund viability now matter as much as the underlying investment theme. Therefore, greater product choice has also introduced additional complexity.
Overall, the U.S. ETF market is expanding through both low-cost portfolio funds and tactical trading products. Its record launch pace now reflects growing scale, deeper specialization, and greater investor risk.
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