Data sourced from Dakota Marketplace, the global LP and GP intelligence platform trusted by thousands of investment professionals. Learn More | Book a Demo
Every ETF wholesaler asks the same question: who else is buying funds like mine? The answer is sitting in 13F filings, but finding it usually means pulling thousands of holdings, deciding which tickers count as “similar,” and matching filers to real people. By the time the list is ready, the quarter has moved on.
The hard part isn’t finding the filings. It’s deciding which funds belong in your peer group. Dakota Marketplace solves that at the source: every ETF in Dakota is classified by asset class and sub-asset class, so your peer group already exists. Finding it, and every firm that owns it, takes seconds.
In this article, we’ll explain why sub-asset class is the unit that matters in ETF distribution, then walk through the two new Dakota tools built on it: the ETF Peer Tracker and the ETF Wallet.
Why Sub-Asset Class Is the Unit That Matters
A ticker on its own doesn’t tell you who your prospects are. If you run a U.S. large cap growth ETF, your competition isn’t one fund. It’s every ETF in the U.S. large cap growth sub-asset class, and every firm that holds one of them already believes in your strategy.
Ticker-level data misses that. Search for holders of your own fund and you’ll only find firms that already own it. Search for one competitor and you’ll miss the dozens of other funds in the same category. The real prospect list is everyone holding any fund in your sub-asset class.
Asset class alone is too broad. “Equity” lumps a large cap growth fund together with an emerging markets fund and a dividend fund, and those are different conversations with different buyers. Sub-asset class is specific enough to define a true peer group and broad enough to capture every competitor in it.’
How Dakota Classifies Every ETF
Most ETF data tools make you build peer groups by hand: export the holdings, tag each ticker, and rebuild the list every quarter. Dakota does that work before you log in.
Dakota tracks 6,000+ ETFs across 13F filings and maps every holding across 19 asset classes and 236 sub-asset classes. Every ETF a firm owns, from U.S. large cap growth to crypto and digital assets, sits in the same classification. That makes it possible to:
- Find your peer group instantly. Every fund in your sub-asset class is already grouped together.
- Compare firms on equal terms. You can see how much each firm holds in your category, not just in your ticker.
- Spot movement inside your category. New and increased positions show up at the sub-asset class level, so you see demand building before it reaches your fund.
That classification is the foundation of both new tools.
ETF Peer Tracker: Your Sub-Asset Class, Turned Into Pipeline
Dakota’s new ETF homepage puts the ETF Peer Tracker front and center.
Enter any ETF ticker, yours or a competitor’s. Dakota identifies its asset class and sub-asset class, then surfaces every account holding ETFs in that same sub-asset class. Type in QQQ, and you’ll see firms holding other U.S. large cap growth ETFs, not just QQQ holders. Type in a crypto ETF like BLOK, and you’ll see firms holding funds like IBIT, ETHA and GLXY, all classified as crypto and digital assets.
That’s the difference between a list of existing holders and a list of real prospects. Every firm in the results already owns your strategy. They just don’t own your fund yet.
The results focus on firms with new or increasing exposure to your sub-asset class. Each position is flagged New, Increased or Even Share, so your team can go after firms actively adding to your category instead of firms that set an allocation years ago.
For each result, you’ll see:
- Account name and account type
- The similar ETF the firm holds
- Asset class and sub-asset class
- Investment status (New, Increased or Even Share)
- Position value
- Date added
Click any row to open the underlying investment record, or export the full list in one click.
ETF Wallet: See Every Firm’s Book by Sub-Asset Class
The ETF Wallet is on every Dakota account page with 13F investment data. It breaks down the firm’s entire ETF portfolio using the same asset class and sub-asset class classification, so you can see exactly where your category fits in their book.
- Interactive allocation chart: View the firm’s ETF holdings by asset class, sub-asset class or ticker.
- Drill-down: Click any asset class or sub-asset class segment to see the ETFs underneath it.
- Investment details: Fund balance, number of shares, filing date and other position details.
The wallet pulls only ETF holdings, so common stocks and other 13F positions won’t skew the breakdown. In a few seconds, you know how much the firm holds in your sub-asset class, which funds it uses there, and whether there’s a gap your ETF can fill.
Find firms buying ETFs like yours. Dakota’s ETF Peer Tracker matches your fund to every 13F filer adding to the same sub-asset class, with 140,000+ contacts behind them. Book a demo.
Beyond RIAs: Every ETF Buyer, Every Decision-Maker
RIAs are the core of the ETF market, and Dakota profiles 17,000+ of them, with total ETF AUM and the active versus passive split on every RIA profile. But ETF buyers go well beyond the RIA channel.
The same asset class and sub-asset class classification runs across family offices, banks, broker-dealers, investment firms and institutions. Dakota connects them to 140,000+ contacts at accounts holding ETFs, including CIOs, portfolio managers and research analysts. Each contact shows their asset class coverage, so you reach the person who covers your category, with direct email and LinkedIn. You can also see nearby accounts to plan your next trip.
How ETF Distribution Teams Use It
Build a prospect list from your sub-asset class. Enter your ticker in the Peer Tracker, filter for New and Increased positions, and export. You now have every firm adding to your exact category this quarter.
Win share from competitors. Enter a competitor’s ticker instead. Firms building exposure to their fund are already sold on the sub-asset class, so your job is to show why your fund is the better fit.
Prep for every meeting. Before a call, open the account’s ETF Wallet and click into your sub-asset class. You’ll know how much the firm holds there, which tickers it uses, and where an allocation to your fund would fit.
Call the right person. Use contact-level asset class coverage to reach the portfolio manager or analyst who covers your category, not a generic inbox.
Make the cold call count. Data doesn’t replace the phone call; it makes it sharper. Knowing a firm just added to your sub-asset class gives your wholesaler a reason to call and something specific to talk about.
Start Finding Who Owns ETFs Like Yours
Dakota Marketplace tracks 6,000+ ETFs across 13F filings, classifies every one across 19 asset classes and 236 sub-asset classes, and connects them to 140,000+ contacts at the RIAs, family offices, banks, broker-dealers and institutions that hold them. Your peer group is already built.
See the ETFs RIAs hold most, then find out who’s buying every fund in your sub-asset class.
Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace to see the ETF Peer Tracker and ETF Wallet in action.
