By Suzanne McGee

As many as 18 new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are scheduled to launch in the United States market this week, more than double the average weekly total of 8.5 so far this year.

The flurry of new offerings would bring the total of ETF launches this month to 57, a record for this year and handily beating the 53 that arrived on the market in September 2022, according to data from CFRA Research.

The products include five new ETFs from Capital Group, a cluster of eight from Brookstone Asset Management, and two from Dimensional Fund Advisors. Dimensional, which had been wary of ETFs until very recently, since 2020 has been converting some of its actively-managed mutual funds into ETFs and launching new products.

“The number of launches has been picking up significantly of late,” said Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research at Morningstar. “There has also been a shift of investor interest in the direction of actively managed ETFs that we’re seeing reflected” in the new launches from both Capital Group and Dimensional.

New ETF launches hit a record of 481 in 2021, then dipped slightly last year to reach 433, according to data from CFRA. So far this year – not counting this week’s scheduled debuts – 323 new ETFs have launched.

(Reporting by Suzanne McGee; Editing by David Gregorio)