Are Active ETFs Right for You?
Learn about active exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and their potential benefits, characteristics, and comparisons with other investment vehicles like mutual funds and separately managed accounts (SMAs).
6/24/2025
3 min read
Topic
Equities
Key takeaways
- Actively managed ETFs combine the potential for outperformance with features like tax efficiency and intraday tradability.
- When evaluating investment vehicles, factors such as cost, transparency, and customization capabilities can help shape your decision.
- Each investment option—ETFs, mutual funds, SMAs, or closed-end funds—offers distinct characteristics to suit different investor needs.
Related insights
Hyperscalers are investing in artificial intelligence (AI) and infrastructure to drive innovation while navigating challenges—balancing short-term demands with long-term growth opportunities.
Insight
PM Spotlight: Wired for GrowthMike Smith is a senior portfolio manager and head of Allspring’s Growth Equity team. His team’s diversified approach focuses on stocks with robust, sustainable, and underappreciated growth across the market-cap spectrum.
Bryant VanCronkhite is a senior portfolio manager and co-head of Allspring’s Special Global Equity team. The team looks for market inefficiencies using a CPA’s knowledge and approach to analyzing financial statements.
Read the latest update from the Rising Dividend Equity team to discover what sets dividend growers apart and how they may offer a compelling allocation opportunity for investors.
Allspring equity portfolio managers Bryant VanCronkhite, Alison Shimada, and Mike Smith sit down to explore current market conditions, economic uncertainties, and potential investment strategies for 2025. They break down the unique challenges and opportunities in current equity markets and the importance of active management and resilience during times of volatility.
Investors face uncertainty around U.S. presidential elections, driving market volatility. How might companies be affected? Have elections affected equity returns long term? Allspring’s Ann Miletti provides perspective.
We discuss two risks investors face: 1) the increased risk in strategies mirroring the S&P 500 as just a few holdings drive its results, and 2) the huge wall of corporate debt maturing in 2025–2029 that will need renewal at much higher rates.
The Special Global Equity team identifies three current market conditions, including U.S. large cap concentration, high but falling inflation, and attractive small-cap stock valuations, and explores why they may signal a comeback for global small-cap stocks.