Investment Company InstituteIndustry body

ETF Share Class Operational Considerations

An October 2025 Investment Company Institute paper says at least 75 asset managers had sought SEC relief to add ETF share classes to existing mutual funds.

Read the full paper at Investment Company Institute ↗
Share
Flows· 43 pages · PDF

What it says

Figures as stated by Investment Company Institute, Oct 23, 2025
  • The Investment Company Institute says the SEC signaled on September 29, 2025 that it intended to approve the dual share class structure.ICI, p. 3
  • The Investment Company Institute expects an automated industry system for moving mutual fund shares into the matching ETF class to arrive by mid-2026.ICI, p. 11
  • The Investment Company Institute notes most broker platforms run mutual funds and ETFs on separate systems, and ETFs typically pay intermediaries no 12b-1 fees.ICI, p. 3
  • In a hypothetical example, the Investment Company Institute shows trading costs from mutual fund redemptions dropping from 0.150 basis points without an ETF class to 0.0375 with a large one.ICI, p. 17
  • Since ETF shares are only exchanged whole, the Investment Company Institute explains, any fractional remainder stays behind in the investor's mutual fund account.ICI

The ETFIQ take

ETFIQ data to Oct 20, 2026 · the 746 of 4,807 ETFs ETFIQ covers with a daily figure, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026

Investment Company Institute reports at least 75 asset managers had applied to the SEC to run ETF share classes, as of September 29, 2025. From Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, the ETFs ETFIQ can count had a net flow of +$127.9bn, with +$90.1bn for stock ETFs and +$35.7bn for bond ETFs.

+$127.9bnnet flow, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, summed over the 746 of 4,807 ETFs ETFIQ covers with a daily figureOct 20, 2026 · ETFIQ →+$461.8bnnet flow, Jan 2, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, summed over the 713 of 4,807 ETFs ETFIQ covers with a daily figureOct 20, 2026 · ETFIQ →+$90.1bnnet flow into stock ETFs, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, over the 322 of 1,739 with a daily figureOct 20, 2026 · ETFIQ →+$35.7bnnet flow into bond ETFs, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, over the 204 of 833 with a daily figureOct 20, 2026 · ETFIQ →
Paper: US asset managers seeking ETF share classes, as of September 29, 2025. ETFIQ: the 746 of 4,807 ETFs ETFIQ covers with a daily figure, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026. Net flow is the change in shares outstanding times the day’s NAV, summed over the days in the window, for the funds with a daily figure. The two sets and windows differ; the figures are stated, not reconciled.MethodData

Related ETFs

The largest ETFs ETFIQ covers, by net assets
VOOVanguard S&P 500 ETF+16.5%IVViShares Core S&P 500 ETF+16.5%SPYSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust+16.4%VTIVanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF+15.9%QQQInvesco QQQ Trust, Series 1+19.2%VUGVanguard Morningstar Growth ETF+11.2%

Figure: total return, 1 year, to Oct 21, 2026, from each fund’s page. All 4,807 ETFs in the screener →

Related papers

Same topic, other sources
J.P. Morgan Asset ManagementIssuer
Guide to ETFsOct 15, 2026 · ETFIQ take
ftFirst TrustIssuer
ETF Data WatchOct 7, 2026 · ETFIQ take
ftFirst TrustIssuer
ETF Data Watch Flier - September 2026Sep 8, 2026 · ETFIQ take
All 16 papers on flows →

Questions people ask

What does the Investment Company Institute paper conclude?

An October 2025 Investment Company Institute paper says at least 75 asset managers had sought SEC relief to add ETF share classes to existing mutual funds. The paper’s own words are at the link above.

What does ETFIQ’s data show on the same question?

From Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, the ETFs ETFIQ can count had a net flow of +$127.9bn, with +$90.1bn for stock ETFs and +$35.7bn for bond ETFs. ETFIQ states both figures and does not reconcile them.

What is an ETF’s net flow?

The change in its shares outstanding times its net asset value, summed over the days of a window: money in less money out. More on this →

Where can I read “ETF Share Class Operational Considerations”?

On Investment Company Institute’s own site. ETFIQ summarizes the paper and does not host it. Investment Company Institute’s page ↗
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, ETF Share Class Operational Considerations (Investment Company Institute), summary and ETFIQ take, as of Oct 21, 2026. https://etfiq.com/research/library/ici-etf-share-class-operational-considerations/

Open data →

Summary by ETFIQ. ETFIQ is not affiliated with Investment Company Institute; logos identify the source.