The European active ETF market has swelled in 2026, reaching €117.1bn by the end of the third quarter, triple the market size in 2023.
Active ETFs had gathered €28.9bn in flows during the first nine months of the year, according to the report. For comparison, the European active ETF market attracted less than that over the entirety of 2025.
Equity strategies remain the main contributor, accounting for roughly 71% of the assets and 65% of inflows so far in 2026. That said, active bond funds still attracted about €7.4bn year-to-date (26% of all active ETF flows).
JP Morgan Asset Management remained the dominant player in the landscape, with about 41.4% of the European Active ETF market share. Fidelity International maintained second place at 9% share, while iShares crept up to 8.3% market share.
In the third quarter of the year, there were roughly 118 new ETF launches, brought by new entrants such as AllianceBernstein, Pictet and Allianz Global Investors. The total number of active ETFs ended the quarter at 377.
More asset managers have also announced plans to enter the market, including T. Rowe Price, which registered its first active ETFs in early October.
“Most of these new entrants are long-standing active managers that previously avoided ETFs given their association with low-cost passive investing.
“Now, however, they see a clear opportunity to tap into the ETF market’s popularity, particularly its distribution advantages and investor reach, while preserving their active investment identity,” Morningstar’s report said.
Morningstar classified active ETFs as either discretionary or systematic, and though discretionary funds dominated owing to JPM, more firms were turning to systematic approaches, led by Goldman Sachs, Nordea and American Century among others.
Fixed income active ETFs remain mostly discretionary, while systematic approaches are usually in equities. Systematic equities attracted about €12bn of inflows this year compared with €6.7bn in discretionary equity strategies.
Jose Garcia-Zarate, senior principal at Morningstar, said: “While active ETFs remain a relatively small part of the broader ETF market, record inflows, rising product launches, and growing competition among providers suggest the segment is becoming a meaningful force within the European ETF landscape.”
See also: Amundi to launch trio of thematic ETFs
