Dan Ives AI ETF Tops $100M in AUM in Just 5 Days of Launch

Wedbush Securities’ first ETF, Dan Ives Wedbush AI Revolution ETF IVES, made a stunning debut, surpassing $100 million in assets under management (AUM) within its first five trading days. Launched on June 4, IVES is an actively managed ETF focused purely on artificial intelligence companies. The rapid inflows highlight increased demand for AI exposure.

IVES in Focus

IVES seeks to capitalize on the rapid growth of artificial intelligence by investing in companies poised to lead the AI transformation. This fund offers investors exposure to a diversified portfolio of firms at the cutting edge of AI technology. The Dan IVES Wedbush AI Revolution ETF tracks the Solactive Wedbush Artificial Intelligence Index.

The ETF is well diversified across 30 stocks, with each firm making up for no more than a 5.7% share. Microsoft MSFT, NVIDIA NVDA and Broadcom AVGO are the top three holdings in the fund’s basket. Further, IVES offers diversified exposure across key AI segments — semiconductors, hyperscalers, cybersecurity, cloud, robotics, and consumer platforms — reflecting a multi-trillion dollar AI investment boom (read: ETFs Poised to Win in the MSFT vs. NVDA Market Cap Battle).

The new ETF has an expense ratio of 0.75%, higher than large-cap tech ETFs like QQQ (0.20%) but reasonable for a thematic strategy.

Here’s How IVES Stands Out in a Crowded AI ETF Market

Timely Launch

Wedbush’s entry into the ETF market comes at an opportune moment when AI enthusiasm has renewed among investors after a slowdown early in the year. AI-related stocks, especially NVIDIA, Microsoft and Tesla (TSLA), have been on a strong rally in recent weeks, with some up about 20% in the past month.

Analyst-Driven Selection

Unlike most thematic ETFs that rely heavily on passive screens or rules-based criteria, IVES is built on the active insights of veteran tech analyst Dan Ives, Wedbush’s Managing Director and Head of Technology Research. The ETF’s portfolio is based on Ives' proprietary “AI 30” list — a curated basket of companies he believes are best positioned to lead and benefit from the artificial intelligence revolution (read: Investing in the AI Revolution with Dan Ives).

Infrastructure & Applications

Many AI ETFs focus primarily on one segment of the AI value chain — often just big-cap platform companies like NVIDIA or Alphabet. IVES, however, adopts a comprehensive strategy that captures the entire AI ecosystem.

Diversified & Balanced Portfolio

IVES deliberately limits concentration risk. The fund caps individual holdings at relatively balanced weights, with each holding around 5% to 6%. This strategy ensures that returns are not overly reliant on just a handful of stocks. It gives smaller, high-growth companies meaningful representation while still maintaining exposure to established leaders. The result is a more diversified and potentially resilient portfolio, especially important in the volatile world of tech investing.

AI Growth

The global AI market is undergoing remarkable growth, fueled by key drivers such as the widespread adoption of digital technologies, increasing awareness about AI’s potential and the rising demand for convenient online services. This rapid expansion is further propelled by major advancements in AI robotics, autonomous systems, sensor technology, computer vision, machine learning, natural language processing and generative AI.

A new UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report projects the global AI market to soar from $189 billion in 2023 to $4.8 trillion by 2033, representing a 25-fold increase in just a decade. Per Grand View Research, the global AI market is expected to witness a compound annual growth rate of 35.9% from 2025 to 2030 to reach $1,811.75 billion by 2030. Statista projects that the AI market will reach $244.22 billion in 2025 and $1.01 trillion by 2031 at a CAGR (2025-2031) of 26.60%.

Competition

Though the AI theme space is a bit crowded, there is scope for Dan Ives Wedbush AI Revolution ETF due to its strategic structure and diversification. The new ETF would face fierce competition from Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF AIQ, iShares Future AI & Tech ETF ARTY and Defiance Quantum ETF QTUM, which manage billions in AUM each.

Bottom Line

With more than $100M in assets, the market sees potential for IVES. Whether IVES becomes a top-tier AI ETF will depend on its long-term performance relative to both broader indices and other thematic funds.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research