Financial advisers have moved past the question of whether to use active exchange-traded funds and are now interrogating where the structure genuinely earns its place in a portfolio, according to new research from MSCI Inc.
The index provider's ETF Intelligence Survey 2026, which polled 450 advisers across the United States and Europe, found that 87% already hold active ETFs and 71% expect to increase that exposure over the next two years.
The survey found more than half of respondents (58%) said a new active ETF allocation from a manager they already use would most likely displace an existing mutual fund or comparable pooled holding. That substitution dynamic doesn't necessarily require advisers to switch managers, as half said they would move into an active ETF version of a strategy they already hold, and 85% of those involved in fund selection said they'd accept an ETF share class of that same strategy.
The MSCI findings arrive as advisers grow more discerning about which strategies belong in the ETF wrapper at all. While practically half of respondents (49%) said they're open to accessing private or less liquid assets through an ETF, only 16% actually consider private markets a good structural fit for the vehicle. Roughly two-thirds pointed to a mismatch between the ETF's liquidity and that of its underlying assets as the primary concern, with valuation transparency and a lack of track record cited as secondary worries the survey noted.
Liquidity and trading efficiency ranked among the top priorities for 68% of advisers surveyed, suggesting the industry is now weighing the ongoing cost of using an ETF alongside the cost of owning it. Advisers also expressed the strongest appetite for thematic and megatrend strategies, and 45% expect to broaden their equity exposure beyond domestic markets over the next two years, with emerging-market allocations drawing more interest than developed-market ones among that group.
"What we are seeing is a shift from whether advisers will use active ETFs to where the structure delivers the most value," said Jana Haines, global head of index at MSCI.
She added that the opportunity for asset managers now "lies not just in providing more choice, but in knowing where the structure adds value, where its limits lie and what it takes to earn a place in the portfolio."
The MSCI findings track closely with separate research from ISS Market Intelligence, which found that registered investment advisers have become the dominant channel for active ETF adoption. RIAs led all intermediary channels in total active ETF assets, holding $442.7 billion, surpassing the active ETF holdings of traditional broker-dealers, independent broker-dealers and wirehouses put together.
The appetite for newer active strategies has been especially real among RIAs. Active ETFs launched since the beginning of 2023 recorded greater growth between March 2025 and March 2026 than the entirety of funds launched prior to 2020, ISS MI found. Traditional and independent broker-dealers showed a similar but more muted pattern, while wirehouses lagged behind – a gap the research attributed to tighter due-diligence controls that home offices place on new fund additions to wirehouse platforms.
Passive ETF growth followed a different trajectory entirely, concentrated overwhelmingly in legacy funds launched in the early 2000s rather than newer entrants.
The renewed interest in active strategies isn't confined to the ETF wrapper. Schroders' 2026 Global Investor Insights Survey found that a large majority of investors expect market volatility to increase over the next year. Most are responding by leaning further into active decision-making rather than standing pat, according to Schroders' North American survey findings.
The global results also found that investors cited diversification, tactical positioning and risk management as their top reasons for using active ETFs specifically. One in 4 said they're using active ETFs for core equity allocations, while a slightly lesser one in 5 are leveraging them for fixed income or credit exposure.
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