Answered from ETFIQ data as of .
What is active share, and what does it tell you about an ETF?
Active share is the share of a fund that is not the index, by weight. A fund at 85% active share has 15% of its money in index names at index weights. Across the thematic ETFs ETFIQ tracks, the typical fund holds 32% of its weight in stocks the S&P 500 already owns.
ETFIQ computes it from each fund's latest filed holdings against the S&P 500 book, matching securities on CUSIP, then ISIN, then ticker, then a normalised name. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security the two hold in common, and active share is one hundred minus that.
The number matters because a thematic fund is usually bought for the part that is different. If most of the fund is index names you already own, the theme is a smaller bet than the name suggests, and the fee is being paid on the whole fund rather than on the differing part.
ETFIQ also shows what that works out to: the fee divided by the share that differs, which is the price of the active decision.
On the desk today
| Ticker | Fund | Theme | In the S&P 500 | Active share | Fee | Fee for the differing part |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DRAI | Draco Evolution AI ETF | Artificial intelligence | 0.0% | 100.0% | 1.34% | 1.34% |
| DRGN | Themes China Generative Artificial Intelligence ETF | Artificial intelligence | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.39% | 0.39% |
| GXDW | Global X Dorsey Wright Thematic ETF | Broad innovation and megatrends | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.50% | 0.50% |
| LFSC | F/m Emerald Life Sciences Innovation ETF | Broad innovation and megatrends | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.54% | 0.54% |
| CNBS | Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF | Cannabis | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.76% | 0.76% |
| MSOS | AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF | Cannabis | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.78% | 0.78% |
| WEED | Roundhill Cannabis ETF | Cannabis | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.41% | 0.41% |
| ICLN | iShares Global Clean Energy ETF | Clean energy | 7.2% | 100.0% | 0.38% | 0.38% |
Where to next
ETFIQ is an independent publisher of exchange-traded fund data and makes no recommendations. Every figure is stated arithmetic on published data. Standards and sources
Cite this page. ETFIQ, What is active share, and what does it tell you about an ETF?, data as of Sep 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/questions/what-is-active-share.html Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.