Europe’s active ETF market continued its rapid expansion in the first half of 2026, with assets reaching €108.3 billion by the end of June – almost triple the size of the market at the end of 2023.
According to Morningstar’s latest Europe Active ETF Trends report, active ETFs attracted €18.8 billion of flows in the first six months of the year, representing 8.8% of all ETF inflows in Europe, up from 7.6% in 2025 and 7.3% in 2024.
“Europe’s active ETF market continues to move into the mainstream at remarkable speed. Assets have nearly tripled since the end of 2023, while net flows continue to take a growing share of the broader ETF market. What stands out is that growth is no longer being driven solely by equities. Active fixed-income ETFs are attracting increasing investor interest, reflecting the view among many asset managers that bond markets are especially well suited to active management.
“At the same time, competition is intensifying. Established active managers that previously avoided the ETF wrapper are now embracing it, attracted by its distribution advantages and investor reach. As the market matures, we’re also seeing greater diversity in investment approaches. Our new discretionary versus systematic framework shows that while discretionary strategies remain dominant, systematic equity strategies are growing, reflecting a market that is becoming broader and more sophisticated.”
Jose Garcia-Zarate, Senior Principal, Manager Research at Morningstar
Key findings
The European active ETF market has nearly tripled in size since the end of 2023, although active ETFs still account for just 3.4% of total European ETF assets, compared with around 12.5% in the US.
Active ETF assets reached €108.3 billion by the end of June 2026, while inflows totalled €18.8 billion in the first half of the year.
Equity strategies continued to dominate assets and flows, but active bond ETFs gained momentum, with their share of active ETF flows rising from 10% in 2024 to 27% in the first half of 2026.
Competition among providers is increasing. While J.P. Morgan remains the market leader with a 42.1% market share, we’re also seeing growth in competitors including Fidelity, iShares and Invesco.
The market continues to broaden, with three new providers – Pictet, Carne Global Fund Managers and AllianceBernstein – entering the market in 2026, while 75 new active ETFs launched in the first half of the year, bringing the total European active ETF universe to 332 funds, up from just 68 at the end of 2023.
Morningstar has also introduced a new framework categorising active ETFs as either “discretionary” or “systematic”, offering investors a new lens through which to analyse the rapidly expanding market. The discretionary style still accounts for 72.5% of assets, though systematic equity strategies continued to gain traction.
The full report can be found here.
