Financial technology, or fintech, was one of the worst performing parts of the stock market in the 2022 bear market and for the roughly two-year period that followed. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy turned to online payments, cashless money transfers, and cryptocurrency interest surged. When the pandemic-era restrictions ended, interest rates rose, and inflation hit the U.S. hard, many fintech companies struggled.
However, we're slowly but surely starting to see a resurgence of fintech stocks in 2025. Just to name a couple of examples, banking disruptor SoFi (SOFI +0.34%) has seen member growth accelerate recently, and PayPal (PYPL +1.25%) has returned to user growth after a multiyear lull.
There are some massive opportunities in fintech, to put it mildly. But this can also be a volatile industry to invest in. If you want fintech exposure in your portfolio but also aren't sur what individual stocks to buy, there are some excellent ETFs you might want to consider.
Image source: Getty Images.
Global X Fintech ETF
The Global X Fintech ETF (FINX +0.62%) is one of the oldest fintech ETFs, and it tracks an index of companies that aim to transform the financial sector. Since its inception in 2016, the ETF has delivered 10.6% annualized returns, and that's after its 0.68% expense ratio is reflected.
This is a weighted index fund, so generally speaking, larger fintech companies make up a larger percentage of the portfolio. Here's a look at some of the top holdings as of this writing:
|
Company (Symbol) |
% of ETF |
|---|---|
|
Coinbase (COIN +1.20%) |
9.76% |
|
Intuit (INTU +1.11%) |
6.36% |
|
Fidelity National Info (FIS +0.87%) |
5.75% |
|
PayPal |
5.55% |
|
Adyen (ADYE.Y 1.52%) |
5.13% |
Data source: Global X.
In short, this is a great way to get passive exposure to the Who's Who of fintech, and for a reasonable fee structure.
Ark Fintech Innovation ETF
The Global X ETF is a passive one, which means that it simply tracks an index of fintech companies and aims to match its performance over time, net of fees. On the other hand, the Ark Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF 0.24%), which has more than $1.2 billion in assets, is an actively managed fund. This means that portfolio managers (in this case notable tech investor Cathie Wood) select stocks with the goal of beating a benchmark.
NYSEMKT: ARKF
Key Data Points
Because of the actively managed nature, there are two big portfolio differences. First, the definition of a "fintech stock" is a little broader. For example, the fund invests about 5% of its assets in Bitcoin (BTC +1.64%). Second, it's not just large fintech stocks that make up the top holdings. As you can see from the list of the top five holdings, there are some that are not large caps, and that are not traditionally considered to be fintech stocks:
|
Company (Symbol) |
% of ETF |
|---|---|
|
Shopify (SHOP 2.54%) |
9.30% |
|
Robinhood (HOOD 3.60%) |
8.64% |
|
Coinbase (COIN +1.20%) |
8.10% |
|
Circle Internet Group (CRCL +0.85%) |
6.06% |
|
Roblox (RBLX +0.05%) |
4.99% |
Data source: Ark Invest.
The Ark Fintech Innovation ETF has a slightly higher 0.75% expense ratio, which is still quite reasonable for a highly specialized, actively managed fund. And it's worth noting that since the ETF's inception in early 2019, it has delivered annualized returns of nearly 16%.
The bottom line is that these are both solid ways to invest in fintech stocks without trying to pick individual winners, but there are some big differences. If you want a broad fintech investment that should do very well no matter what companies win, the Global X fund could be the way to go, but if you're looking to have more exposure to smaller, high-potential companies and also can tolerate more volatility, the Ark ETF could be a better fit for you.
