Amplify CEO Christian Magoon on the Past 2 Decades of ETFs

Amplify CEO Christian Magoon has worked in the ETF industry for almost two decades, and with over 100 fund launches under his belt, things are getting much more complex.

In the beginning, ETF customers were “diehard indexers” buying equity funds, and even fixed-income ETFs were “late bloomers.” Now, asset managers are prioritizing unique strategies that use derivatives, like options and covered calls, to create additional income, he told ETF Upside. Case in point: Amplify launched two Bitcoin ETFs last week — Amplify Bitcoin 24% Premium Income ETF (BITY) and Amplify Bitcoin Max Income Covered Call ETF (BAGY) — which seek to deliver monthly income through weekly call options. “We didn’t want to be the 12th fund provider launching a spot Bitcoin ETF,” Magoon said.

ETF Upside caught up with Magoon last week to discuss the industry’s influence on crypto, the market downturn, and some controversial new products coming from companies tied to President Trump.

ETF Upside: How are ETFs responding to all the market volatility?

Christian Magoon: [The ETF sector is] still robust and offers a lot of exposure to unique strategies and asset classes that still work in this environment. The ETF marketplace of 2005 was dominated by equities, but now, ETFs tied to silver and gold are benefiting. We’ve seen a lot of flows to buffer ETFs for people who are quote — unquote “running for protection.” 

For us, we’ve also seen a lot of flows into our higher quality US equity products that have a covered call overlay that allows you to collect more option income as volatility rises. International funds are also outperforming for the first time. A year ago, many advisors were saying, “I don’t allocate much to international, or if I do, it’s through the S&P 500.” Is this a new world, or is this a short-term change given the new administration and its policies? The jury is still out, but if you don’t have much international weight this year, that’s problematic.

What’s the big development happening right now for ETFs?

We’re seeing the ETF sector disrupt the Coinbases of the world due to the nature of the vehicle, their regulatory overview, and investors not wanting to have a cold storage wallet they might lose the pass phrase to. As retail continues to look more toward crypto, a lot of crypto holders and new crypto investors will migrate toward the ETF space.

What should more people be talking about?

Donald Trump and Trump Media entering the ETF market place and the deals they’ve announced. Those include equity ETFs and crypto ETFs, and the announcements have been very out of the ordinary. Generally, you have to have something on file and follow a certain regulatory process. It’s going to be interesting to watch whether there will be special treatment given to these Trump ETFs. Similar to the meme coins that were launched just before Trump took office that essentially harvested hundreds of millions of dollars by this Trump-related company and insiders, you wonder about the ethics of it all, and if that same type of questionable conduct will creep into the ETF space. It seems like there are some unusual circumstances, or tactics, that are being used that most firms wouldn’t consider, or likely feel would be in violation of regulatory conditions.