{"url":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/authorized-participants-and-market-makers/","section":"academy","title":"Who keeps ETF prices tight: APs and market makers | ETFIQ","description":"Learn the jobs of authorized participants, lead market makers and wholesalers, and how to check who trades your ETF, using real SEC and exchange data.","as_of":"Nov 9, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"LearningResource","@id":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/authorized-participants-and-market-makers/#lesson","name":"Who keeps ETF prices tight: APs and market makers","description":"In ISPY's filing year to May 31, 2026, 4 of its 39 authorized participants created or redeemed shares, two doing 73% of the dollars.","url":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/authorized-participants-and-market-makers/","learningResourceType":"Lesson","teaches":"Who keeps ETF prices tight: authorized participants, lead market makers and wholesalers, and what each does","educationalLevel":"Intermediate","timeRequired":"PT7M","inLanguage":"en","isAccessibleForFree":true,"isPartOf":{"@type":"Course","@id":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/#course","name":"Trading Products and Costs","url":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/"},"position":3,"dateModified":"2026-11-09","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ETFIQ Research","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ETFIQ Research","url":"https://etfiq.com"}},{"@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/authorized-participants-and-market-makers/#check","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Which firm hands the fund a basket of holdings in exchange for new ETF shares?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"An authorized participant. only APs create and redeem with the fund."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"A fund lists 30 APs. In its filing year, one firm did 90% of its creations and redemptions. What does ETFIQ show?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A \"One dealer\" flag. one firm above 80% triggers the flag, because the price leans on that firm staying active."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Retail orders in a fund paid $3.10 on $10,000 one way, against $8.00 at the quote. How much better than the quote, in dollars?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"$4.90. $8.00 \u2212 $3.10 = $4.90 saved against the posted quote."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Academy","item":"https://etfiq.com/academy/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Trading Products and Costs","item":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Who keeps ETF prices tight","item":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/authorized-participants-and-market-makers/"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"Who keeps ETF prices tight: APs and market makers","description":"Learn the jobs of authorized participants, lead market makers and wholesalers, and how to check who trades your ETF, using real SEC and exchange data.","url":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/authorized-participants-and-market-makers/","dateModified":"2026-11-09","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".lede"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":6175,"truncated":false,"content":"ETFIQ / Academy / Trading Products and Costs / Who keeps ETF prices tight \n \n Who keeps ETF prices tight: APs and market makers\n Data as of Nov 9, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.\n In ISPY's filing year to May 31, 2026 , 4 of its 39 authorized participants created or redeemed shares, two doing 73% of the dollars.\n Trading Products and Costs \u00b7 Lesson 3 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 \n Tap a firm to see its share of the dollars created and redeemed. Dollars created and redeemed (hypothetical) $100,000,000 Merrill Lynch $37,390,362 Jane Street $35,569,394 Goldman Sachs $21,071,418 Virtu $5,968,825 Of $100,000,000: Merrill Lynch $37,390,362, Jane Street $35,569,394, Goldman Sachs $21,071,418, Virtu $5,968,825. Hypothetical total. ISPY's shares of dollars created and redeemed, N-CEN year to May 31, 2026. Step 1: listed against active. ISPY's yearly SEC filing (Form N-CEN) for the year to May 31, 2026 lists 39 APs . Only 4 created or redeemed any shares. Step 2: how concentrated? Shares of the dollars created and redeemed: Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith: 37.4% Jane Street Capital, LLC Capital: 35.6% Goldman Sachs: 21.1% Virtu Americas: 6.0% Step 3: who quotes it. On Nov 9, 2026 , Cboe BZX listed Susquehanna Securities, LLC as ISPY's lead market maker. Susquehanna is not one of ISPY's four active APs: quoting and creating are separate jobs. Step 4: who filled retail orders. A one-way cost is what a trade pays beyond the midpoint, halfway between bid and ask; at the posted quote, that is half the spread. In September 2026 , retail market orders in ISPY paid $2.32 one way on $10,000, against $7.41 at the quote, because wholesalers filled them inside it. Saving against the quote: $7.41 \u2212 $2.32 = $5.09 95% of shares filled better than the quote Step 5: the whole market. In the 3,954 ETFs whose filings ETFIQ read, 75 firms were named as APs and 51 created or redeemed shares (as of Sep 23, 2026 ). The exchanges name just 16 firms as lead market makers for 5,026 ETFs; Jane Street Capital, LLC leads the most, 1,020 (as of Nov 9, 2026 ). \n The question\n When I trade an ETF, who is on the other side, and who keeps the price close to what the fund holds?\n The idea\n Three kinds of firm do three different jobs. Authorized participants (APs) deal with the fund itself. They hand over a basket of holdings for new shares, or return shares for the basket ( Beginner lesson 1 ). This keeps the price near the NAV.\n The lead market maker (LMM) is the firm a stock exchange assigns to an ETF. It must keep a bid and an ask posted through the trading day, so there is always a quote.\n Wholesalers are trading firms that fill most orders placed through retail brokers, often at a better price than the posted quote.\n \n One firm can do several jobs. What matters is how many firms do the work , not how many are listed.\n Worked example\n The 5 steps beside the drawing at the top work this through on ETFIQ data. Point at a step to light the part of the drawing it describes.\n ISPY, the S&P 500 income fund from lesson 1 . Each source has its own date.\n The top two did 37.4% + 35.6% = 73.0% . ETFIQ flags \"One dealer\" when a single firm does more than 80% , or only one is active. ISPY is not flagged.\n Compare TINY from Beginner lesson 4 : 0 of 39 active in the same filing year, and its price often strayed past 1% from NAV.\n The common mistake\n \"A fund with 39 APs has 39 firms keeping its price in line.\" The list is who signed, not who works. ISPY had 4 active; TINY had none. Read the active count and the largest share.\n Check your understanding\n Pick an answer to see why. Two of three right passes the lesson.\n 1. Which firm hands the fund a basket of holdings in exchange for new ETF shares? A The lead market maker B Your broker C A retail wholesaler D An authorized participant Answer: D. An authorized participant. only APs create and redeem with the fund. Not A: the lead market maker posts quotes on the exchange; it can also be an AP, but quoting is a different job. 2. A fund lists 30 APs. In its filing year, one firm did 90% of its creations and redemptions. What does ETFIQ show? A Nothing; 30 APs is plenty B A higher dealer score C A \"One dealer\" flag D A score of 0 for dealers Answer: C. A \"One dealer\" flag. one firm above 80% triggers the flag, because the price leans on that firm staying active. Not A: the listed count is not the working count. 3. Retail orders in a fund paid $3.10 on $10,000 one way, against $8.00 at the quote. How much better than the quote, in dollars? A $3.10 B $4.90 C $8.00 D $11.10 Answer: B. $4.90. $8.00 \u2212 $3.10 = $4.90 saved against the posted quote. Not D: adding the two counts the cost twice. \n Takeaways\n APs keep the price near NAV; the lead market maker keeps a quote posted; wholesalers fill most retail orders. \n Count the active APs and the largest share, not the listed ones. \n Any fund's Trading tab names its active APs and its lead market maker, with dates. \n Do it on ETFIQ\n See who makes the market in your fund Your fund \n Where to next\n Next lesson: Leveraged and inverse ETFs: what the daily promise means Previous lesson: Capacity: how much can trade before the price moves Trading Products and Costs: all lessons The explainer behind this lesson ETFIQ Academy How ETFIQ computes these numbers \n Cite this page. ETFIQ, Who keeps ETF prices tight: APs and market makers, data as of Nov 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/authorized-participants-and-market-makers/ Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms. The underlying files are at Open data .\n Other forms Plain ETFIQ, Who keeps ETF prices tight: APs and market makers, data as of Nov 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/authorized-participants-and-market-makers/ APA ETFIQ. (Nov 9, 2026). Who keeps ETF prices tight: APs and market makers. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/authorized-participants-and-market-makers/ Markdown [Who keeps ETF prices tight: APs and market makers (ETFIQ, Nov 9, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/authorized-participants-and-market-makers/)","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, Who keeps ETF prices tight: APs and market makers, data as of Nov 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-products-and-costs/authorized-participants-and-market-makers/"}