JPMorgan Topples Dimensional for Active ETF Crown

There’s a new active ETF sheriff in town.

JPMorgan Asset Management is now the largest active exchange-traded fund manager by assets in the country, toppling previous category leader Dimensional Fund Advisors. The company now manages $256 billion in assets as opposed to Dimensional’s $254 billion, according to Bloomberg data, and it launched seven new active funds last year, including its largest ever. The change highlights advisors’ appetite for active strategies, and fixed-income products in particular, since JPMorgan remains a dominant player in that segment.

“In the last year, 18 months, there’s been such an explosion in active ETFs that have come to market,” said Rich Lee, head of program trading and execution strategy at Baird. “You look at all the growth in the ETF space in this past year, it’s from the launch of active ETFs.”

Heated ETF Rivalry

With nearly 160 available funds, JPMorgan’s active lineup trumps Dimensional’s, which consists of just 41 such products. Fixed income has also been all the rage, with two JPMorgan offerings — the Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ) and Ultra-Short Income ETF (JPST) — gaining more than $10 billion and $7 billion in 2025, respectively, according to Bloomberg. And five of its funds made the top 25 most popular active products of last year in terms of inflows, per Morningstar data: JEPQ and the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI).

Still, some advisors remain on team Dimensional. “We have been on [the] cutting edge of Dimensional Fund [Advisor]’s migration to ETFs, with hundreds of millions of dollars with them,” said David Demming, president of Demming Financial Services Corp. “[Their funds have] lower costs for clients, with no ticket charges and lower internal fees.”

According to the Bloomberg report:

• Capital Group finished third in terms of active ETF assets, with $111 billion.
• American Century was fourth, with $105 billion, followed by First Trust, with $102 billion.

Dimensional declined to comment. JPMorgan did not respond.

Going Abroad. Another reason for JPMorgan’s success is their global presence. The European active ETF industry is expected to expand to $1 trillion by 2030, so although Dimensional may still have a hometown advantage, international offerings will probably make a difference.

“A lot of managers are saying, ‘Well, if it’s something that’s successful in the US, should we also try to distribute in Europe?’” Monika Calay, director of passive strategies research at Morningstar UK, told ETF Upside last year. “The main catalyst, I think, for that was JPMorgan.”