Insights advertising continues its upswing to a five-quarter high in North America
Key takeaways
- Insights campaigns' share of asset management advertising in North America reached 37% in Q3 2026, a five-quarter high, according to Fundamental Monitor.
- Fund promotion's share was 54%, up from 39% in Q2 2026, and it remained the largest category by purpose.
- Analyzed by strategy, ETFs made up 50% of asset management advertising in North America, compared with 36% in Q2 2026.
Insights campaigns, which promote firms' thought leadership, continued to make up a growing share of asset management advertising in North America in Q3 2026, according to Fundamental Monitor data.
That share reached a five-quarter high of 37% in Q3 2026, compared with 24% in Q2 2026 and 5% in Q3 2025. In Europe, by contrast, insights campaigns accounted for just 5% of advertising in the third quarter of this year.
The Fundamental Monitor platform assigns each ad a single main purpose, so the shares in the chart below show how advertising divides between brand, insights and fund promotion.
Fund promotion’s share of advertising was 54% in Q3 2026, well below its five-quarter peak of 75% in Q3 2025. However, it remained the largest category by purpose, and was up 15 percentage points from Q2 2026.
Brand campaigns' share of advertising was 9% in Q3 2026, compared with 14% in Q2 2026, a five-quarter low. Taken together, the figures suggest asset managers advertising in North America placed more emphasis on thought leadership and fund promotion this quarter.
By strategy: ETFs account for half of advertising
When Q3 asset management advertising in North America is broken down by strategy, ETFs remain the most heavily advertised, accounting for 50% of the total, up from 36% in Q2 2026. Equities and fixed income were broadly stable compared with Q2 2026: equities' share was 10.1%, from 9.4%, and fixed income's was 1.8%, from 2.4%.
ETFs have the most active advertisers
ETFs had the most advertisers in market, with 42 in Q3 2026 compared with 43 in Q2 2026. Equities had 16 advertisers (15 in Q2 2026) and fixed income had 15 (13 in Q2 2026).
| Strategy | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equities | 17 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 |
| Fixed income | 23 | 24 | 14 | 13 | 15 |
| ETF | 44 | 48 | 42 | 43 | 42 |
| ESG/SRI | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Multi asset | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
Source: Fundamental Monitor
Asset management advertising in North America: Q3 2026 examples
Below are examples of insights, fund promotion and brand campaigns that were in market in North America during Q3 2026:
Insights advertising example: BNY Wealth
Fund promotion advertising example: State Street Investment Management
Brand advertising example: EQT
Fund promotion climbs to 41% of asset management advertising in Europe in Q3 2026
Fund promotion hit 41% of asset management advertising in Europe in Q3 2026, a five-quarter high, according to Fundamental Monitor.
ESG advertising in APAC swings to fund promotion in Q2 2026
ESG advertising in APAC was dominated by fund promotion in Q2 2026, driven by a single advertiser, according to Fundamental Monitor. Read the full breakdown.
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