Everything you always wanted to know about the ETF media landscape 

Key takeaways: 

• With a record number of active ETF launches, ETF sponsors are seeking to grow awareness to reach financial advisors. 
• The ETF media landscape includes established players, mainstream publications and podcasts focused on the industry.
• ETF sponsors need to determine the right balance between earned and paid opportunities to optimize awareness.

One news story this year that is inescapable is the proliferation of active Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) coming to market. Morningstar estimates that nearly 300 active ETFs were launched in the first half alone, and 2025 is likely to see more launches than 2024, a record year.

ETF sponsors seeking to grow awareness for their ETF offerings with advisors have a number of avenues to do so. Here we try to map the media and events, earned and paid, that are the most influential with advisors.

The ETF media establishment

Funny to refer to many of the newer organizations as establishment as some of these organizations didn’t exist just a few years ago. But there are clearly several core, established ETF media outlets that advisors value.

• VettaFi (ETF Trends) – is the ETF industry flagship for ETF trends as well as its many webinars and sponsored opportunities. The organization provides news about the industry, market insights and plenty of advisor education. VettaFi’s Todd Rosenbluth and Cinthia Murphy are widely followed ETF thought leaders.
• ETF Database (ETFdb) – Also owned by VettaFi, ETFdb is more of a day-to-day site for research, data and screening tools for product evaluation.
• ETF.com – Recently purchased by Matt Middleton and Anil Aggorawal from ETFS Capital, the site has gained significant following under the editorial leadership of Kristin Myers. While Kristin isn’t staying on, the connection to the FutureProof entrepreneurs is likely to accelerate its visibility with advisors.
• ETF Express – This London-based site is part of Chandler Publishing and offers extensive coverage of launches and is a go-to for both U.S. and international ETF news.
• ETF Upside – While it's much newer, we are keeping an eye on this sister publication to the Daily Upside, a newsletter launched by Pat Trousdale. The organization also offers the Advisor Upside newsletter.
• ETF Central – Owned by the NYSE, ETF Central includes data and analytics along with editorial content on fund news and launches.

Financial and industry publications with solid coverage

• Financial Times, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, Barron's – While less likely to cover daily news such as new ETF launches, these leading daily financial news publications are sources on the ETF business and market analysis. The earned media impact of these organizations, given institutional trust, is outsized.
• ThinkAdvisor, InvestmentNews, WealthManagement.com – Among the financial advisor industry trades, these publications have done a lot to cover how advisors are using the products as well as provide information on how advisors can use ETFs to help build their practices. All also offer native content opportunities for sponsored content.
• Ignites, CityWire, Pensions & Investments and MFWire.com – These asset management industry publications have focused on the sponsors of ETFs, covering launches, operations and personnel news.
• Morningstar – With extensive and detailed product coverage and ratings, Morningstar is on most advisor’s’ desktops. Morningstar’s Ben Johnson is a go-to expert on ETFs and the industry.

ETF podcasts and other shows

In a trend that seems to be only accelerating, many advisors have gravitated to podcasts both for continuous learning and market commentary. And few have been disappointed by the proliferation of podcasts featuring information on ETFs (note: Lowe Group’s Investing Podcast Directory provides overviews of all of these podcasts and more).

• ETF Prime – Advisor Nate Geraci was one of the first to embrace the need for ETF education by creating the ETF Institute and the Certified ETF Advisor designation (CETF). Geraci’s podcast is a deep dive into industry trends and speaks to many industry leaders.
• ETF IQ – Bloomberg Television’s weekly deep dive on ETFs—with hosts Scarlet Fu, Katie Greifeld and Eric Balchunas—focuses on the opportunities, risks and trends shaping the market.
• Trillions – The Bloomberg podcast hosted by Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber is a biweekly conversation with industry leaders and investors. Balchunas is a widely quoted ETF commentator.
• ETF Edge – Longtime host Bob Pisani has retired from day-to-day reporting, but his successor Dominic Chu hasn’t missed a beat on CNBC’s program dedicated to ETFs; Dom’s conversations with industry participants offer actionable advice for advisors and individuals looking to build portfolios.
• Inside ETFs – This Reuters video segment is broadcast from London and covers news and analysis related to ETFs.
• Animal Spirits, The Long View and other investing podcasts—ETF sponsors, portfolio managers and strategies are regular guests on popular podcasts sponsored by the Compound, Morningstar and others.

Sponsored content, webinars, industry events, awards and paid placement

Lowe Group has mainly focused on earned media opportunities in all of the media listed above, but many ETF sponsors regularly pursue paid opportunities alongside these earned outcomes. In addition to digital advertising, paid LinkedIn campaigns, and sponsorships, ETF sponsors are also budgeting for paid thought leadership and native content. Some are running influencer partnerships and campaigns.

Issuers also shouldn’t sleep on all the complementary content options that come with their fund listing. Whether an issuer chooses the Nasdaq, CBOE or NYSE, exchange launch teams are ready to set up multiple interviews and content placements. All you have to do is ask, but ask early since, with the proliferation of funds, the choice spots get taken up fast.

Conference sponsorships, including paid speaking opportunities, are also abundant. The leading conferences — Inside ETFs, Exchange and ETFGI Summits — build their agendas around ETFs alone. Other leading advisor conferences including Future Proof, the Morningstar Investment Conference and Schwab Impact garner significant ETF sponsorship dollars. Many ETF sponsors also budget for paid webinars which can be well attended by advisors, especially those seeking continuing education credits.

Sponsors are also going after the proliferation of industry awards focused on ETFs, many sponsored by the media organizations listed above, with significant competition in categories like ETF issuer of the year and best new entrant.

And budget dollars are flowing. We recently wrote about the impact of money spent by Invesco on the QQQ ETF and its influence on the ETF mainstream. That was an anomaly likely never to be seen again, but it set a high spending bar. Many ETF sponsors looking to grow their ETF assets are allocating dollars across channels to a mix of established and rising ETF media to build audience trust and engagement.

Finding the right balance between earned and paid is an art. And while the editorial teams at most ETF publications don’t talk about it, there can be a pay to play element where sponsors and advertisers are also “featured” in editorial content.

Alas, our overview here is not comprehensive; the ETF media landscape and the related opportunities continue to grow and evolve each day. We also expect this media set to broaden as the industry explores more direct-to-consumer efforts. But hopefully today's mapping of the opportunities serves as a starting point for the many new ETF sponsors and product specialists focused on growing awareness.

If you’re looking to raise your visibility in ETF media, send us a note.