As is so often said, ETFs breathed fresh life into active management and as Goldman Sachs recently pointed out, 35% of the $1 trillion-plus that flowed into US-traded ETFs in the first half of 2026 was directed to actively managed funds.

When we’re talking about numbers like $350 billion, it’s clear that registered investment advisors (RIAs) are part of that groundswell, if not leading it. Don’t worry. That’s not conjecture. Advisors’ affinity for active management in the ETF wrapper is easy to quantify.

MSCI (NYSE: MSCI), which mind you is one of the largest providers of indexes tracked by passive ETFs and index funds, recently polled 450 advisors in the U.S. and Europe with one of the most obvious takeaways from the survey being that advisors are embracing active ETFs in a big way.

“The vast majority of respondents (87%) to the ETF Intelligence Survey 2026 already invest in active ETFs and 71% expect to increase their use over the next two years. Passive ETF use is also set to grow, with 62% of advisers planning to increase their allocation,” according to MSCI.

Ditching Mutual Funds? It’s Going to Happen.

Yes, advisors cozying up to active ETFs implies some “suffering” for mutual funds.

“More significantly for asset managers, 58% say a new active ETF allocation from a manager they already use would most likely displace an existing mutual fund or UCITS holding,” adds MSCI.

However, it’s not all bad news for issuers because the survey indicates that while advisors may ready to ditch the mutual fund structure, that doesn’t mean they’re abandoning preferred issuers. That may be a sign that issuers converting mutual funds to ETFs are onto something and that others will follow suit.

“A change in structure doesn’t necessarily mean a change in manager, however, with half of respondents likely to switch to an active ETF version of a strategy they already hold and 85% of those involved in fund selection open to an ETF share class of the same strategy,” notes MSCI.

Advisors Want Access, Choice

Many advisors are already devoted users of low-cost passive ETFs and that’s not going to change because many of those funds are integral in building the foundation of sound long-term portfolios. However, their needs and wants with active ETFs are different than what they seek with passive tools.

When it comes to active ETFs, advisors want access and choice. Regarding choice, a lot of boils down to megatrends, thematic exposures and ex-US equities. When it comes to access, it can involve previously hard to reach asset classes or sophisticated strategies and it’s something advisors are willing to pay up for.

“The majority (58%) of respondents would pay more for a difficult-to-access strategy whereas only 12% would pay a higher fee for core beta,” concludes MSCI. “Liquidity and the ability to trade efficiently also rank among the top priorities for 68% of respondents, a sign that advisers are weighing what an ETF costs to use alongside what it costs to own.”

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