The ETF boom has hit a milestone that feels more like a plot twist in the current market environment. For the first time ever, there are now more U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds than actual U.S.-listed stocks. The latest ETF gold rush brought the number to 4,300, compared to around 4,200 companies.
In 2025 alone, issuers have launched more than 640 new ETFs—about four per day. A decade ago ETFs accounted for less than 10% of the investment universe; now they make up roughly a quarter.
What started as a low-cost alternative to mutual funds has exploded into a supermarket of niche ideas, ranging from AI-themed portfolios to cannabis plays to ETFs that sound like The Onion made them up.
“Choice is great until it becomes a burden,” Douglas Boneparth of Bone Fide Wealth said per Bloomberg.
“There’s an ETF for everything now — AI, pets, cannabis, woke and anti-woke portfolios. It’s hard…
