What's going on?

Fresh data showed launches of actively managed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are outnumbering passively managed ones for the first time ever.

What does this mean?

Active investment managers � who invest in stocks they think will do well, rather than passively track the performance of an index � are having a good year. Lots of them are beating the wider market, and now they�re seeing a lot of demand for their new active ETFs too. Those kinds of ETF were hard to come by not long ago, but the success of Cathie Wood�s ARK Innovation ETF has kicked things off in a big way. There have now been 115 launches so far this year � more than double the number of much more commonplace passive ETFs. All told, that�s led to a record amount of new cash being piled into ETFs overall in the past 12 months.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: This wave is building.
The amount of cash invested in active ETFs only represents 3.4% of the ETF market, but that�s still a jump from 2.7% a year ago (tweet this). It�s all down to rule changes that have made it easier for active investment managers to launch ETF-based stock-picking strategies, as well as allowed them to keep their stock holdings a secret. And now that active ETFs are proving so popular, they�re bound to keep poaching market share as the world�s biggest investment firms start offering their investors a choice of them too.

Zooming out: A bright spot in the bond market.
Investors have also dumped a record $18 billion into ETFs (and related products) that invest in inflation-linked bonds so far this year � already more than 2020�s full-year record of $17 billion. Those bonds� payments move with the inflation rate, offering investors some protection against climbing prices. And they might need it: data earlier this month showed US inflation hit its highest level since 2008 last month.