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New ETFs are taking Wall Street’s obsession with tracking star investors like Cathie Wood, Bill Ackman, and Warren Buffett one step further—offering funds that aim to mimic their gains. It’s the latest strategy to stand out in the saturated ETF market, where 746 U.S. funds launched in 2024 alone.
Below, we take you through how they work and if they’re worth your investment.
Key Takeaways
- ETFs that track famous investors are proliferating, but most are not managed by the star investors themselves—they’re copycats tracking publicly disclosed holdings with significant time lags.
- For success, these funds need to justify their fees and prove they can deliver consistent performance, which could prove a challenge for copycat funds that can’t replicate real-time trading decisions.
Star Power or Star Struck? The Two Types of Celebrity ETFs
We can divide these star investor-tracking funds into two:
1. Direct Involvement: The Dan Ives Model
One of the most attention-grabbing of these ETFs has been the Dan IVES Wedbush AI Revolution ETF (IVES), launched in June 2025. The ETF comprises 30 artificial intelligence-related stocks personally curated and updated by the popular tech analyst. “It’s based on our research. So as new companies come in, then some companies could come out,” Ives told CNBC. “This is a living organism, in terms of this AI 30.”
However, the ETF will follow a more “passive” approach, shifting quarterly (with the ability to change more frequently for corporate actions)—an eternity in the world of AI. The fund, which has gathered over $400 million in assets as of July 25, 2025, has an expense ratio of 0.75%.
Tip
How does the expense ratio of IVES compare? Using the list of AI ETFs in the ETF Database, we calculate an average expense ratio of 0.58% for funds in this space, with the weighted average (accounting for fund size) even less, 0.39%.
Copycat Funds: The VistaShares Approach
In June 2025, it was reported that VistaShares was preparing to release a slate of ETFs that track the moves of famous investors, though without their involvement. VistaShares’ strategy builds on the success thus far of its Warren Buffett-tracking fund, launched a few months earlier in March 2025. The VistaShares Target 15 Berkshire Select Income ETF (OMAH) has grown quickly to more than $440 million in assets, as of July 25, 2025. The fund combines Berkshire Hathaway’s top 20 holdings with an options overlay strategy that targets a 15% annual income, but comes with a steep expense ratio of 0.95%.
Expected to launch in August 2025, VistaShares’ newer funds include the following:
- VistaShares Pershing Square Select ETF, tracking Bill Ackman, the activist investor and hedge fund manager
- VistaShares Scion Asset Management Select ETF, tracking Michael Burry, the investor who famously predicted the 2008 financial crisis and was portrayed in the film “The Big Short”
- VistaShares Duquesne Select ETF, tracking Stanley Druckenmiller, the legendary macro trader and former partner of George Soros
- VistaShares Berkshire Select ETF, another fund that tracks Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, BRK.B)
These funds rely on 13F filings—quarterly reports that large investment managers must file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, disclosing their holdings. The catch is that these reports arrive up to 45 days after quarter-end, potentially making the information stale.
Is This a Winning Strategy?
Early results show celebrity names attract capital—OMAH and IVES prove that. But can they deliver consistent performance? Two significant challenges suggest an uphill climb:
- The time lag: Even IVES only rebalances quarterly, limiting real-time access to Ives’ thinking. Copycat funds face worse delays—by the time they replicate Ackman’s or Burry’s positions from 13F filings, those trades are ancient history.
- The fees: On average, ETFs are estimated to cost at least about $200,000 to run, which includes passive index funds that require minimal management. Still, working with that number and assuming an expense ratio of 0.50%, an ETF would need about $40 million in assets under management to break even. IVES and OMAH have been able to make that math work easily; it’s too soon to see for the others.
The Bottom Line
Naming an ETF after a Wall Street legend can generate buzz and attract initial investment—IVES and OMAH prove that much. But marketing momentum only goes so far. These funds must now prove they can deliver sustained outperformance to justify their fees.
Given the time lags inherent in 13F tracking and the poor long-term track record of many active strategies, a lot of these funds may ultimately be remembered as clever marketing gimmicks rather than innovations in investing.
