Data sourced from Dakota Marketplace, the global LP and GP intelligence platform trusted by thousands of investment professionals. Learn More | Book a Demo
Charles Schwab Investment Advisory reported a $11.2 billion position in its own Schwab Fundamental U.S. Large ETF (FNDX) as of its most recent 13F filing in Dakota Marketplace. A few rows down the same dataset, Jane Street Group LLC shows a $73.4 billion SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) position, reported for entirely different reasons. Both are 13F filers. Neither is doing the same job with that ETF.
Dakota Marketplace's 13F holdings data captures every institution required to report U.S. equity and ETF positions above the SEC's reporting threshold, and that population is far broader than any single distribution channel. Pulling the largest reported ETF positions by share count reveals at least four distinct types of filer, each holding ETFs for a different reason, and mixing them together is exactly how "most widely owned" claims go wrong.
The Data
The positions below are individual 13F filings as currently reported in Dakota Marketplace. Filing dates differ by institution since each reports on its own schedule, so figures are not a single point-in-time snapshot. They are presented here as illustrative examples of filer diversity, not a ranked list.
|
Filer
|
Filer Type
|
ETF
|
Position Value
|
Filing Date
|
|
Charles Schwab Investment Advisory
|
Custodial platform (proprietary ETF)
|
FNDX
|
$11.2B
|
2/13/2026
|
|
Jane Street Group LLC
|
Market maker
|
SPY
|
$73.4B
|
5/12/2026
|
|
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
|
Wirehouse
|
GOVT
|
$7.9B
|
2/17/2026
|
|
J.P. Morgan & Co.
|
Bank / wirehouse
|
BNDX
|
$10.4B
|
2/11/2026
|
|
Blackrock, Inc.
|
Asset manager
|
IXUS
|
$17.2B
|
8/13/2024
|
|
Envestnet
|
RIA turnkey platform
|
IUSB
|
$6.1B
|
5/4/2026
|
|
Betterment
|
Robo-advisor / RIA
|
SPLG
|
$7.0B
|
5/14/2026
|
|
Creative Planning Inc.
|
RIA
|
BND
|
$8.9B
|
5/12/2026
|
|
D.E. Shaw
|
Hedge fund
|
IQ
|
$54.6M
|
2/14/2023
|
|
Susquehanna Private Capital
|
Market maker / prop trading
|
SLV
|
$4.1B
|
2/17/2026
|
1. Custodial Platforms Are Building Their Own ETF Suites
Charles Schwab Investment Advisory shows up repeatedly across its own proprietary fund lineup: FNDX, SCHR, SMBS, FNDA, SCHX, FNDF, SCHI, SCHF, SCHE, SCHA. This is not third-party adoption. It is a custodian reporting positions in ETFs it manufactures itself, most likely held across model portfolios and advisory accounts built on the Schwab platform.
For fund managers watching custodial shelf space, this is worth separating from genuine third-party product selection. A custodian's own proprietary ETF suite is not competing for RIA attention the way an outside issuer's product is, it is the default.
2. Market Makers and Prop Trading Firms Are Not Investors
Jane Street Group LLC, Barclays Capital, Susquehanna Private Capital, and D.E. Shaw all appear holding sizable ETF positions in this data, and none of them are making an investment decision in the way an RIA or wealth manager would. These firms provide liquidity and arbitrage the ETF creation and redemption mechanism, which means their reported share counts can be enormous without reflecting genuine end-client demand.
Any "who owns this ETF" analysis that does not separate market-making activity from investment-driven demand risks crediting a liquidity provider's inventory as if it were investor conviction.
3. RIA and Wealth Platforms Show Up Alongside Everyone Else
Envestnet, Betterment, Creative Planning, Wealthfront Advisers, and Empower Personal Wealth all appear in the same dataset, holding core ETF exposure (IUSB, SPLG, BND, VEA, SCHF) consistent with model portfolio construction for advisory clients. These are the filers most relevant to an asset manager building distribution into the RIA and wealth management channel specifically, and they are easy to lose in a dataset that also includes wirehouses, banks, and market makers.
4. Filing Dates Are Not Synchronized Across Filers
The filing dates in this dataset range from 2020 to 2026 depending on the institution. Farallon Capital Management's IQ position is dated 5/15/2023. D.E. Shaw's IQ position is dated 2/14/2023. Blackrock's IXUS position is dated 8/13/2024. Meanwhile, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan positions are current as of February 2026. Comparing dollar figures across filers without checking the filing date first will blend multi-year-old positions with current ones.
What This Means for Fund Managers and ETF Issuers
Segment before ranking. Any list of "top ETF holders" needs a filer-type filter applied before the numbers mean anything. Custodial proprietary funds, market-maker inventory, and RIA-driven model portfolio positions answer different business questions and should not be ranked against each other in the same table.
RIA and wealth platforms are the relevant comparison set for distribution strategy. If the goal is understanding advisor-driven adoption specifically, filtering to RIA, wealth manager, and turnkey asset management platform account types is the correct scope, not the full 13F universe.
Check the filing date before citing a number. A position dated 2023 sitting next to one dated 2026 in the same report can create a misleading comparison if the dates are not called out.
The Dakota Marketplace Advantage
[DAKOTA: X accounts / Y contacts across RIA and wealth platform filers currently tracked] Dakota Marketplace links every 13F position to a filer type, AUM, and named contact, letting fund managers filter to the specific channel that matters, RIA, wealth platform, bank, or otherwise, before building a target list.
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