With Active ETFs now at 12% of the $15T US market, is the mutual funds era closing?
By 2024, total ETF assets had surpassed $10 trillion, with active strategies capturing 8% of that pool. Through April 2026, the active share has climbed to approximately 12% of a $14.9 trillion market, according to the analysis, which cites Morningstar data.
The supply side has responded in kind. In 2025 alone, a record 1,011 active ETFs were launched compared to just 20 in 2015, as nearly every major asset manager moved from exploration to full-scale execution. Through April 2026, 322 new active ETFs have already launched with only 33 closures, a 10% rationalization rate that suggests the market continues to absorb new strategies.
Who’s winning and why
The UMB/FUSE report identifies the top 10 active ETF firms by assets under management, led by Dimensional Fund Advisors, which holds $279.9 billion across 41 funds. Dimensional’s dominance stems largely from its decision to convert existing mutual funds directly into ETFs, instantly transferring a large, loyal asset base into the new wrapper.
JPMorgan follows with $232.6 billion across 45 funds, with Capital Group ($134.6 billion), American Century ($124.2 billion), and BlackRock ($112.3 billion) rounding out the top five, according to the FUSE/Morningstar data cited in the report.
Two outliers in the rankings are First Trust, with 181 active strategies, and Innovator ETFs, with 174 — firms that have focused on thematic, defined-outcome, or niche active approaches, capturing smaller pools of assets across a wide array of specialized products.
