There were 728 new ETFs listed in the U.S. in the first half of 2026, and CFRA has identified five of them as notable launches (see Table 1). We screened the new launches and identified those that have rapidly gathered assets or innovated in growing ETF categories. These products are representative of the rapid and continuing creativity and experimentation in the U.S. ETF ecosystem. The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) has been the standout launch of the first half of 2026 due to its differentiated exposure to the HBM industry and strong return performance. Other launches with success in gathering assets include the Tema Space Innovators ETF (NASA), driven by interest in Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and the ProShares GENIUS Money Market ETF (IQMM), which jump-started its asset growth via allocations from other ProShares ETFs. Our list also includes the Roundhill HALO ETF (LOHA) and iShares Securitized Income Active ETF (SECU), both of which have yet to cross $1 billion in assets but are innovating in categories of growing investor interest.

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Topical Themes – High Bandwidth Memory, Space, and the HALO Trade

DRAM was the most successful U.S. ETF launch of the first half of 2026, growing to over $23 billion in assets as of July 7, 2026. The ETF focuses on the HBM chip industry, a critical component of the artificial intelligence hardware supply chain. Its three top firms SK hynix Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and Micron Technology Inc. together have more than 90% market share of the global HBM market. CFRA views these firms as being key beneficiaries of the multiyear AI memory upcycle. As of July 7, 2026, they accounted for over 70% of DRAM’s exposure.

DRAM is differentiated since the largest semiconductor ETFs in the U.S. do not hold stocks listed outside the United States. As of July 9, 2026, both the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) and iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) did not hold either SK hynix or Samsung Electronics. This opened the door for DRAM to offer targeted pure-play exposure to global memory stocks. After SK hynix’s ADR listing on July 10, we expect SOXX and SMH to add it, but with a significantly lower weight than in DRAM. DRAM had positive inflows every week since its launch through July 3. It ranked sixth among all U.S.-listed ETFs based on 1H 2026 inflows—an outstanding accomplishment for a new product.

Space-themed ETFs also garnered significant interest in the first half of 2026 due to the SpaceX IPO. NASA emerged as the largest of the seven new spaced-themed ETFs that launched in the first half of 2026. Investment interest in the fund was driven by its pre-IPO exposure to SpaceX (obtained via a special purpose vehicle). Other ETFs in the space category, including those launched in previous calendar years, have since added SpaceX to their portfolios post-IPO via the traded common stock, which is a preferred way to get exposure, since the use of special purpose vehicles to get private equity exposure can raise valuation and regulatory challenges.

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The space thematic ETF category is likely to grow as SpaceX’s expansion spawns a broader supplier ecosystem. According to CFRA’s fundamental equity team, suppliers of semiconductors, advanced materials, industrial gases, manufacturing equipment, satellite components and AI infrastructure are positioned to benefit from higher launch cadence, Starlink deployment and Starship production. The convergence of Starlink, Starship and AI infrastructure is increasing demand across the semiconductor and compute supply chain. In the near term, firms like industrial gas provider Linde plc, engineering firm Velo3D and semiconductor provider STMicroelectronics N.V. are likely to be direct beneficiaries of SpaceX’s growth. As the ecosystem grows, more public companies could become eligible for inclusion in space-themed ETFs.

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Another emerging ETF category where new ETFs were launched is the Heavy Assets Low Obsolescence theme. Coined by Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO Josh Brown, the underlying thesis of HALO investing is that AI is less likely to disrupt businesses that have capital-intensive real-world assets and more likely to adversely impact digital capital-light businesses. There is no universally agreed-upon definition of a HALO business, and the track record of this thesis is still unproven. However, given the wide-ranging impact of AI, we expect more ETF products to focus on separating winners and losers from AI.

The first ETF in the U.S. to explicitly focus on the HALO trade was LOHA. It uses an index-based approach to provide exposure to U.S.-listed companies whose economic value is tied to physical goods and commerce, asset leasing, and physical infrastructure networks. The launch of LOHA was quickly followed by the listing of the Tuttle Capital Heavy Asset Low Obsolescence ETF (HALX). It also tracks a rules-based index and targets 30 to 50 constituents focused on physical assets and capital-intensive operations, including power systems, transportation networks, and industrial automation.

LOHA and HALX have very different sector exposures from each other and from the S&P 500-tracking iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV). As of July 7, 2026, 38% of LOHA’s exposure was in the Industrials sector, compared to just 17% and 9% in HALX and IVV, respectively. Similarly, LOHA had a combined 33% in the Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples sectors, compared to 19% and 14% in HALX and IVV, respectively. Both the HALO-themed ETFs have zero (or de minimis) IT and Financials sector exposure, compared to 37% and 12% in IVV, respectively.

Growth in Specialized Fixed Income Categories

Institutional and retail fixed-income investors are considering securitized debt to achieve higher yields than traditional corporate and government debt. SECU was listed in January 2026 and was converted from a predecessor mutual fund that has a track record going back to July 2005. SECU takes an active management approach to higher-yielding securitized credit, allocating assets across commercial mortgages (33% of the portfolio), non-agency mortgage-backed securities (31%), collateralized loan obligations (19%), and other asset-backed securities. As of July 7, 2026, the ETF has a high yield, with a 30-day Securities and Exchange Commission yield of 5.41% and an average yield to maturity of 6.25%, with a relatively low effective duration of 3.47 years. To deliver higher yields, the ETF allocates across the credit quality spectrum, with 44% of the portfolio in AAA-rated securities, which contrasts with the more established Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF (JAAA), which focuses on the highest-rated credit tranches.

We expect the launch of SECU to support the growth of the non-government securitized credit ETF category. JAAA is the clear category leader, with its $29 billion in assets being indicative of investor interest. It is, however, focused exclusively on AAA securities, the highest-rated tranches of collateralized loan obligations. SECU and peer ETFs like the Janus Henderson Securitized Income ETF (JSI) and DoubleLine Securitized Credit ETF (DSCO) are now expanding the ETF category by extending exposure to the lower ends of the capital structure to generate higher yield premiums. Total assets in non-government asset-backed security ETFs in the U.S. exceeded USD58 billion as of July 7, 2026. We expect investors to continue to show interest in specialized actively managed vehicles as an alternative to more traditional indexed products like the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG).

The money market ETF category has also received a significant impetus due to the recent launch of IQMM, as it already had over $20 billion in assets as of July 7, 2026. IQMM is differentiated from other money market ETFs by meeting the reserve requirements of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoin (GENIUS) Act. To qualify as a permissible reserve for payment stablecoin issuers, it adheres to stricter standards than the standard Rule 2a-7 that applies to money market funds. This product could potentially serve as an important bridge between traditional fixed income and digital asset markets.

Looking Ahead

CFRA identified these recent launches as notable because they are differentiated and reflect high investor interest in their respective categories. The launch of these products indicates that ETF managers are innovating by closely monitoring investor sentiment (e.g., SPCX, memory chips) and regulatory changes (e.g., crypto regulation) and then quickly bringing products to market. Going forward, market participants should monitor how each of these products and segments grows, and whether investor demand is sustained. The success of these products will be a litmus test of sustained investor appetite for specialized thematic exposure in the ETF wrapper.