The ISS Market Intelligence team was excited to join industry leaders, issuers, and innovators at VettaFi Exchange this year, one of the premier gatherings in the ETF ecosystem. During March 15–18 in Las Vegas, VettaFi Exchange brought together ETF issuers, wealth leaders, and advisors. Our representatives, George Adjami and Ryan Kinney, were on-site meeting with clients, speaking with ETF issuers, and showcasing our MarketPro Discovery and MarketPulse platforms at our sponsored kiosk.
This year’s conference conversations were especially timely. Nearly 1,000 ETFs launched in 2025, leading to greater demand for granular intelligence on flows and advisor behavior. We introduced new ETF-level analytics to our MarketPulse solution, allowing users to see ETF ownership and 13F exposure with precision.
- Advisor Demand is Shifting Toward Precision
Active ETFs remain one of asset management’s fastest-growing segments, with innovation spanning new launches, conversions, and, importantly, ETF share-class developments that widen the menu of vehicle options for investors. Advisors arrived in Las Vegas looking for practical portfolio ideas and timely perspectives on the path ahead. They left with the conviction that to succeed, issuers need to offer targeted exposures, transparency, and clear differentiation. In order to do this, they need deeper intelligence on their own and competing funds.
- Distribution is the battleground in a slower–growth backdrop
One theme we heard repeatedly at VettaFi Exchange echoed our State of the Market outlook: the next several years point to a more modest growth environment, one where sales and distribution become true competitive differentiators. As highlighted in the report, long-term U.S. fund assets are expected to grow at 6.7% annually through 2030, a step down from the 8.5% pace of 2021-2025. This shift means managers can no longer rely on market appreciation to carry results alone. Instead, they must sharpen advisor engagement, educate on new structures, and bring clearer context on where solutions belong in the portfolio.
In practice, that means distribution teams must move beyond topline flows to buyer intelligence: which advisors are reallocating, what’s driving rotations, and which channels are leaning into categories like fixed income, alternatives, and active ETFs. This is where ISS MI’s Solution Suite becomes essential.
MarketPulse provides granular ETF-level insights, including 13F ownership data and firm-level CRD attachments, giving product and distribution teams a clear view into who is rotating, where assets are at risk, and which channels are driving demand. At the same time, MarketPro Discovery equips teams with advisor-level segmentation, product usage patterns, licensing data, and channel intelligence, making it easier to identify the RIAs and broker-dealers most receptive to their message. Coupling those insights with agile product management and timely competitive analysis helps teams spot gaps earlier, time product launches more strategically, and support field conversations with the precision needed.
Use cases discussed at Exchange:
- New launch targeting: identify institutions that hold comparable exposures, and prioritize those with recent adds, when bringing a strategy to market.
- Share-of-wallet expansion: map existing owners across a family of ETFs to spot adjacent categories where the issuer is under owned.
- Replacement campaigns: track ownership shifts and fee/return differentials to time outreach when advisor portfolios are in motion.
- Event to execution: closing the loop with connected intelligence
A theme that resonated after several days in Las Vegas: Quantifiable ROI. While conferences are invaluable for relationships and idea-sharing, the firms gaining the most traction are those that successfully convert on-site conversations into a measurable pipeline. Meeting advisors and partners is only the starting point. Growth comes from what happens next.
The transition from conversation to pipeline becomes far easier with MarketPro Discovery, which enables teams to enrich conference leads with full advisor profiles, including Firm CRD, contact information, and title.
With this clarity, follow-up becomes more precise and productive. Distribution teams can tailor outreach based on real advisor characteristics rather than generic messaging, while wholesalers can head into conversations equipped with the advisor’s background, practice type, and product relevance. In a more modest growth environment, this kind of high‑integrity intelligence shortens the cycle from discovery to deal, helping teams translate what they heard in Las Vegas into targeted activity.
What we’re watching next
As we wrap up another successful year at VettaFi Exchange, we’re grateful for the opportunity to engage with so many leaders across the ETF and financial services ecosystem. The conversations we had reflected the accelerating excitement behind active ETFs and the growing pressure on asset managers to meet evolving advisor demands, even as the industry adjusts to a more measured growth backdrop.
Looking ahead, our team is closely watching how advisor demand for active ETFs continues to evolve, particularly as more managers enter the space with differentiated strategies across fixed income, equity, and options‑based approaches. We’re also tracking how distribution teams adapt their engagement models to a slower‑growth backdrop. We expect ETF buyer transparency to become even more critical, making tools like MarketPulse’s 13F ownership analytics and MarketPro’s advisor intelligence central to how firms prioritize opportunities, size markets, and anticipate competitive moves.
MarketPulse 13F Data
Turn transparency into traction. With 13F ownership enriched for every ETF and Firm CRDs linked to decisionmaker contacts, MarketPulse shows who owns what, how much, and when so your team can prioritize prospects, sharpen positioning, and accelerate distribution. Explore MarketPulse 13F Data →
