More people looking to get their salary in digital currencies 1:15
New York (CNN Business) -
This was a great year for new exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, popular investments that make it easy to buy a basket of stocks, cryptocurrencies, or other assets.
Numerous bitcoin ETFs were launched in 2021, and there are likely to be more in 2022. Various experts even predict that there could be new ETFs for ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.
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Even more exotic funds are also expected to launch.
Fund company Defiance has just debuted a new digital revolution ETF geared towards companies that are doing more business with non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, the digital assets stored on blockchain that have become popular in the world of art and collectibles.
The Defiance NFT investment fund is index-based and owns shares in companies including bitcoin bank Silvergate, eBay, pop culture giant Funko, and Playboy owner Plby.
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Other index-based passively managed ETFs remain popular.
Ark Invest's Cathie Wood has just launched a new fund linked to an index of companies with good scores for corporate transparency.
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Ark also has a family of actively managed ETFs, in which managers choose individual stocks or other assets rather than relying on indices.
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Natixis Investment Managers said in a recent report that it expects the number of assets in actively managed mutual funds to double in 2022, compared to this year.
And more and more companies want to launch actively managed ETFs focused on niche sectors of the stock market.
Fund firm VanEck, one of the asset managers that recently launched a bitcoin futures ETF, also has a new active-managed ETF geared toward agricultural technology.
That fund, called the VanEck Future of Food ETF, bears the distinctive YUMY symbol and owns shares in companies like agriculture firm AppHarvest, plant-based drink maker Oatly and tractor maker Deere.
More international ETF launches are also expected.
Mutual fund giant Vanguard said late last month that it plans to introduce a fund of select China stocks, which will buy shares of companies based in the world's second-largest economy and will not be based on an index.
"An active approach to investing in China, coupled with the ability to invest in a wide range of Chinese stocks both at home and abroad, will provide the fund's portfolio managers with the flexibility to help navigate the market. dynamics of potential market constraints and a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape, "Vanguard said in a press release.
The ETF boom is likely to continue to fuel the strong earnings of the big financial firms that dominate the market.
In this regard, the shares of iShares owner BlackRock, ETF provider SPDR State Street and main fund manager Invesco are up 30% so far this year.
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