These 5 ETFs Have Raked in Cash This Year—What Do They All Have in Common?

Key Points

• The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) set records for fastest-growing ETF ever, surpassing $26.6 billion in inflows since its April launch amid a memory chip shortage.
• AI-linked ETFs, including QQQ, QQQM, SOXX, and EWY, attracted billions in inflows this year but later pulled back sharply from their mid-2026 highs.
• Heavy investor herding into AI-themed funds has created concentration risk and portfolio overlap, amplifying volatility and sell-offs across semiconductor and tech-focused ETFs.

Birds of a feather flock together. That adage also applies to the equities market, and so far this year, some of the biggest ETF inflow winners outside the broad-market giants have had something in common: AI exposure.

Those flows also illustrate how thematic enthusiasm can contribute to herding bias and portfolio overlap.  In this case, investors have poured billions into funds tied to AI through very different corners of the market, including semiconductors and memory chips—and the hyperscaler spending on AI infrastructure that ties it all together.

While that very herding has resulted in enormous gains for the funds on this list, it also creates an environment in which flights to safety are magnified, sell-offs are more acute, and volatility is more amplified.

Understanding how each fund gets that exposure to the AI trade can help investors minimize their portfolio’s concentration risk.

DRAM Rode the Memory Shortage to Record-Setting Growth

Analysts forecast the ongoing memory chip shortage to persist throughout 2027 and possibly into 2028.

With hyperscalers locked into multiyear contracts that support prices despite recent headwinds, the Roundhill Memory ETF BATS: DRAM, which debuted earlier this year, has been a direct beneficiary.

In mid-August, the fund surpassed $26.6 billion in inflows—the most among all ETFs.

Since launching on April 2, DRAM set a record as the fastest-growing ETF of all time, hitting $6.5 billion in assets under management (AUM) in just 36 trading days and surpassing $10 billion in AUM before 45 trading days.

The ETF focuses on companies operating across the memory semiconductor supply chain, including those involved in the design and development of DRAM and NAND memory, wafer fabrication, packaging and testing, and the manufacture of semiconductor capital equipment and materials.

From its debut through its year-to-date (YTD) and all-time high (ATH) on June 22, the fund gained nearly 191%. It has since pulled back as valuation concerns in the memory chip industry have reversed gains. Today, DRAM is down more than 30% from its ATH.

However, the fund’s top holdings—including Micron Technology NASDAQ: MU, Samsung OTCMKTS: SSNLF, SK hynix NASDAQ: SKHY, Seagate Technology NASDAQ: STX, and Sandisk NASDAQ: SNDK—all currently have Buy or Moderate Buy ratings, while DRAM has not experienced any institutional selling since its debut.

QQQ and QQQM: 2 Sister Funds That Benefitted From Tech’s 2026 Comeback

Tech stocks struggled earlier this year. But they’ve since reversed course, and the sector is now the second-best performer in the S&P 500 with a more than 25% YTD gain. That rebound has coincided with the Invesco QQQ Trust NASDAQ: QQQ and its sister fund, the Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF NASDAQ: QQQM, seeing inflows of $15.2 billion and $21.2 billion, respectively, this year.

Both ETFs track the NASDAQ-100 Index, but QQQM has a marginally lower expense ratio—0.15% vs. 0.18%— while QQQ has higher liquidity. Their 2026 gains have been nearly identical, at around 16.5%.

While QQQ and QQQM are not thematic to AI, they’re highly concentrated. Both have more than 30% exposure to the semiconductor industry, and the Magnificent Seven dominate their top holdings. Still, because the funds aren’t singularly focused on one aspect of the AI trade, they have insulated shareholders from the worst of the recent tech sell-off.

QQQ and QQQM are down around 4% from its YTD high on June 2. One of the most notable differences between the two is short interest. While around 9.5% of QQQ’s float is currently shorted, just 0.67% of QQQM’s float is.

SOXX and EWY Offer Direct and Indirect Semiconductor Exposure

With $10.6 billion in inflows, the iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF NASDAQ: SOXX has benefited from the same tailwinds that helped the tech sector reverse course earlier this year and propelled DRAM to record-setting growth.

The fund tracks a basket of U.S.-listed semiconductor stocks, and from the start of the year through its YTD high on June 22, SOXX has gained nearly 109%. Like the other ETFs on this list, the memory chip-led sell-off has dragged the fund down nearly 22% since.

Institutional sentiment somewhat soured in Q2, with selling outpacing buying, and the short interest of 13.60% of the float is worth monitoring.

Meanwhile, the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF NYSEARCA: EWY has seen inflows of nearly $10 billion, which ranks fifth among ETFs. But like DRAM, it has suffered from concentration risk.

The fund tracks the MSCI Korea 25/50 Index, and with Samsung and SK hynix accounting for more than 44% of its portfolio, EWY has been hit particularly hard amid the current tech pullback.

The ETF gained more than 114% en route to its YTD high on June 18 but has since fallen nearly 18%.

Short interest stands at 10.38%, but institutional selling dried up in Q2.

But as valuations continue to undergo mean reversion, these funds offer an opportunity to buy shares at a discount, given the forecast memory chip shortage and the industry’s transition from processing power to data storage. Investors should be mindful of overlap and concentration risk, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see any of the aforementioned funds finish 2026 among the leaders in inflows.

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