ETF Market Trends - The ETF market is showing a stronger division between institutional and individual investors, raising concerns [1] - Approximately 64% of the entire ETF market can be traced back to 13F filings, indicating institutional ownership [2] - Single stock ETFs have over $30 billion, almost $40 billion in assets, with sub 10% institutional ownership [3] - Niche thematic ETFs, like those popular during 2020-2021, often have low institutional ownership, driven by retail investors [4][5] - Flows into niche strategies, especially in thematic and innovative spaces, are showing signs of approaching 2020-2021 levels [5] Single Stock ETFs and Thematic ETFs - Single stock ETFs now amount to $40 billion, including leveraged products and covered call/synthetic income strategies [6] - Synthetic calls on single stocks are almost entirely (99%) owned by retail investors, with no institutional allocation [7] - While thematic ETFs can be great portfolio allocation tools, significant inflows into these products can be a contrarian signal of market overheating [8][9] Gold ETFs - Traditionally, institutional and retail flows into gold ETFs have been about a 50/50 split [10] - Institutions are increasingly looking at strategically allocating 3% to 5% of portfolios to gold as a cost-effective hedge against drawdowns [11][12] - Gold ETFs have seen approximately $40 billion flow in worldwide through the first half of the year, with an additional $4 billion for July and August [12] - Central banks have shown record or near-record flows into gold over the last three years, continuing to drive gold performance [14][15]