One of the defining characteristics of US stock market valuation in 2024 has been the large impact of some mega-cap stocks on index returns. This trend was reflected in US ETF launches in October 2024.
Some of the new ETFs allow investors to double down on this mega-cap tech trend. For example, BlackRock launched the iShares Nasdaq Top 30 Stocks ETF (QTOP), which provides indexed exposure to the top 30 stocks by market capitalization in the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index. ETFs that provide leveraged or inverse exposure to single stocks also increased with 8 new launches, including those that provide leveraged exposure to Taiwan Semiconductors, Netflix and Broadcom.
This has grown the single ETF universe to 60 products and $14.7 billion in assets at the end of October 2024. Other ETFs that allow investors to double up on mega-cap names and technology include the top 20 U.S. stock ETFs iShares (TOPT) and Trader 2X Long Triple Q Quarterly ETF (QQQP).
Conversely, there were also ETFs listed in October 2024 that allowed ETFs to hedge the risk of a very heavy market. There were 11 new listings of buffer ETFs that allow investors to trade against certain markets in exchange for downside protection.
Additionally, Defiance launched the Defiance Large Cap ex-Mag 7 ETF (XMAG), and BlackRock launched the iShares Nasdaq-100 ex Top 30 ETF (QNXT). There were also launches of small- and mid-cap ETFs, which will benefit if market breadth continues to improve. New listings include the SEI Select Small Cap ETF (SEIS) and the Rockefeller US Small-Mid Cap ETF (RSMC).
The full list of October US ETF launches is provided below: