By Suzanne McGee

Fidelity launched a group of six new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) Monday and announced sharp reductions on management fees on nearly a third of its total ETF lineup, kicking off what analysts expect to be another strong week for ETF debuts.

So far this year, asset managers have launched 419 ETFs, according to Morningstar Direct, taking 2023 a step closer toward breaking the 2021 record of 475 new ETFs.

This week is expected to feature at least a dozen new products.

Among them, Ark Invest and 21Shares AG will roll out a group of five actively-managed ETFs tied to bitcoin and ethereum futures as well as blockchain technology on Tuesday and Wednesday. The move will boost Ark's lineup from eight ETFs to a total of 15.

Rolling out multiple ETFs in a cluster has become an increasingly common strategy, said John Hooson, managing director of global ETF product at Brown Brothers Harriman.

"Sometimes, as with ARK, it's a group of products targeting different slices of the same strategy or market" segment, he said.

Fidelity’s ETF conversions include funds focused on large-cap growth, value and core portfolios, as well as mid-cap small-cap, and international stocks.

The Fidelity products offer fees of 18 basis points to 28 basis points, compared with an average fee of around 63 basis points for actively managed ETFs, according to Bryan Armour, mutual fund analyst at Morningstar.

"These are very, very substantial reductions, and the new fees are very low," said Armour.

(Reporting by Suzanne McGee; Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and Deepa Babington)