Data sourced from Dakota Marketplace, the global LP and GP intelligence platform trusted by thousands of investment professionals. Learn More | Book a Demo
Every quarter, institutional investment managers with $100 million or more in 13(f) securities report their holdings to the SEC (SEC Form 13F FAQ). The filings are public but not built for prospecting: each is one firm's list of issuer names, share counts and values, with no asset class tags and no quarter-over-quarter comparison. Finding which RIAs hold a given ETF means pulling filings firm by firm and doing the matching yourself.
Dakota Marketplace does that work for you. Its 13F tab holds 2,621,000+ holdings, including 938,000+ ETF positions, searchable by ticker, asset class and product structure, with Status fields that flag each position as New, Increased, Decreased or Sold-Out versus last quarter.
We used that data to find which liquid alternative ETFs the most RIAs actually own. One fund stands apart: JPMorgan Equity Premium Income (JEPI) is held by 88 RIAs for the quarter ending December 31, 2025. No other liquid alternative ETF reaches 30. The rest of the list belongs to options-based funds, especially buffer ETFs, a category that has grown to 468 funds and about $87 billion in assets, with 113 new launches in 2025 through November (VettaFi via Advisor Perspectives, December 2025).
In this article, we’ll rank the 10 liquid alternative ETFs held by the most RIAs, show where the dollars concentrate, and break down what an options-heavy alternatives sleeve means for managers selling alternative strategies.
The Top 10 Liquid Alternative ETFs Held by RIAs
Ranked by the number of distinct RIAs reporting a position in 13F filings for the quarter ending December 31, 2025.
|
Rank
|
Ticker
|
ETF
|
Strategy
|
RIA holdings
|
|
1
|
JEPI
|
JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF
|
Option income
|
88
|
|
2
|
BUFR
|
FT Vest Laddered Buffer ETF
|
Laddered buffer
|
26
|
|
3
|
QYLD
|
Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF
|
Covered call
|
21
|
|
4
|
DIVO
|
Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income ETF
|
Dividend and covered call
|
19
|
|
5
|
BALT
|
Innovator Defined Wealth Shield ETF
|
Buffer
|
15
|
|
6
|
POCT
|
Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - October
|
Buffer
|
13
|
|
7
|
PSEP
|
Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - September
|
Buffer
|
12
|
|
8
|
PNOV
|
Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - November
|
Buffer
|
12
|
|
9
|
FTLS
|
First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF
|
Long/short equity
|
11
|
|
10
|
PJAN
|
Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - January
|
Buffer
|
11
|
Source: Dakota Marketplace 13F holdings data, quarter ending December 31, 2025. PSEP and PNOV tie at 12 RIAs. FTLS, PJAN, PAPR, PAUG and FAUG tie at 11. Ties are ordered by RIA dollars held.
What the Ranking Shows
1. Options-Based Funds Are the Category (133 of 144 RIAs)
Nine of the top 10 funds use options. Of the 144 RIAs holding a liquid alternative ETF, 133 hold an options-based fund, and those funds account for $1.5B, about 89% of RIA liquid alternative ETF dollars.
Option income leads by reach. 99 RIAs hold an option income fund such as JEPI, QYLD or DIVO, with $561M in holdings. JEPI alone holds $294M, and for 37 RIAs it is the only liquid alternative ETF they own.
2. Buffer ETFs Are Bought as a Series (65 RIAs, 134 Different Funds)
Buffer ETFs limit losses over a set period in exchange for a cap on gains. Most launch monthly, so a single strategy can carry 12 tickers. 65 RIAs hold at least one buffer ETF, spread across 134 different funds, with $900M in holdings.
RIAs that use them tend to use many. 40 RIAs hold three or more buffer ETFs, 23 hold six or more, and 14 hold 12 or more, often laddering monthly series so a new outcome period starts throughout the year. One RIA holds 76 different buffer ETFs. FT Vest Laddered Buffer (BUFR) does that laddering in a single fund, which helps explain why it ranks second.
3. Hedge Fund Strategies Are Thin (30 RIAs in Long/Short, 20 in Managed Futures)
Traditional hedge fund strategies barely register in ETF form. 30 RIAs hold a long/short, market neutral, merger arbitrage or multi-strategy ETF, with $120M in holdings. First Trust Long/Short Equity (FTLS) is the only one in the top 10. 20 RIAs hold a managed futures ETF such as iM DBi Managed Futures (DBMF) or Simplify Managed Futures (CTA), with $58M in holdings.
13F filings only cover exchange-listed securities, so this is not the full picture. Interval funds, non-traded BDCs, hedge fund LPs and liquid alternative mutual funds do not appear in 13F data.
Want to see which RIAs in your territory hold these funds? Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace.
Breadth vs. Dollars: Where RIA Assets Concentrate
The ETFs held by the most RIAs are not always the ones holding the most RIA money. RIAs reported $1.7B in liquid alternative ETF holdings for the quarter ending December 31, 2025.
|
Ticker
|
ETF
|
RIA holding
|
RIA holdings
|
|
JEPI
|
JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF
|
88
|
$294M
|
|
ACIO
|
Aptus Collared Investment Opportunity ETF
|
9
|
$180M
|
|
BALT
|
Innovator Defined Wealth Shield ETF
|
15
|
$74M
|
|
BUFR
|
FT Vest Laddered Buffer ETF
|
26
|
$50M
|
|
DIVO
|
Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income ETF
|
19
|
$46M
|
|
FTLS
|
First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF
|
11
|
$43M
|
JEPI holds about 17% of all RIA liquid alternative ETF dollars. The biggest tickets sit elsewhere. Aptus Collared Investment Opportunity (ACIO) holds $180M across just nine RIAs, an average of $20M per firm, compared with $3.3M for JEPI. Innovator Defined Wealth Shield (BALT) averages $5.0M across 15 RIAs.
Source: Dakota Marketplace 13F holdings data, quarter ending December 31, 2025.
What This Means for Investment Firms Pitching RIAs
For most RIAs, “alternatives” in an ETF wrapper means options: income from writing calls, or defined outcomes from buffers. That tells a manager what problem the RIA is trying to solve.
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Speak to income and downside protection. RIAs holding JEPI or buffer ETFs want yield and a smoother ride. Lead with how your strategy delivers either one, and how it compares on cost, cap or yield.
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Find the buffer ladderers. The 23 RIAs holding six or more buffer ETFs run a deliberate defined-outcome program. They are the first call for buffer issuers, and they are used to evaluating outcome periods and caps fund by fund.
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Treat JEPI-only RIAs as alternatives prospects. 37 RIAs hold JEPI and no other liquid alternative ETF. They have taken a first step beyond stocks and bonds, which makes them a natural audience for long/short, managed futures and other diversifying strategies.
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Look beyond the 13F for private alternatives. An RIA with a light liquid alternatives ETF book may still run a meaningful private markets or interval fund sleeve. Use holdings data alongside account-level intelligence before you assume there is no allocation.
Turn 13F Holdings Into a Prospect List
Every number in this post came from the 13F tab in Dakota Marketplace. Members filter 2,621,000+ holdings by account name, investment strategy, ticker, asset class, sub-asset class, product structure, fund balance range and filing period, and switch between a By Investor and a By Fund view.
Seven new fields make the data faster to act on:
- Quarter-over-quarter change on any holding: Previous No. of Shares, Previous Quarter Value and Status (New, Increased, Decreased, Equal Shares or Sold-Out) show who is adding or trimming a position, with no filing to open and no math to do.
- ETF exposure on every account: ETF AUM, ETF AUM %, Active ETF AUM and Passive ETF AUM answer "does this RIA use ETFs, and how much?" right on the account page.
That gives investment firms three ways to build a sharper list:
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Find who holds a competitor's fund. Search a ticker and pull every firm reporting it.
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Spot momentum. Filter by Status to see which RIAs bought or added to a position last quarter, and which sold out.
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Target real holdings, not stated mandates. An RIA that leans active in its ETF book is a very different conversation than one that runs almost entirely passive.
Members can now build and save their own 13F lists with Create a List and My Lists, then export any list to Excel to share or print.
Find the RIAs Behind the Holdings
Dakota Marketplace tracks 8,700+ RIAs and 48,300+ RIA contacts, with 13F holdings attached to each firm profile. Filter by ETF ticker or asset class held, by RIA AUM, by metro area, or by decision-maker title such as CIO or portfolio manager.
Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace to know what an RIA already owns before you pitch what it should add.
