IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/assmgt/v26y2025i4d10.1057_s41260-025-00408-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Artificial intelligence exchange-traded funds: the intersection of finance, technology and sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Claudio Boido

    (University of Siena)

  • Mauro Aliano

    (University of Ferrara)

Abstract

This study investigates the intersection of artificial intelligence and finance by examining the performance of Artificial Intelligence exchange-traded funds (AI ETFs). We analyze 94 AI ETFs from January 2015 to September 2023, using data from Eikon Refinitiv. Our research explores the relationship between AI adoption and investment outcomes, focusing on performance and risk metrics such as crash, jump, and idiosyncratic risks. The results reveal the complex risk–return profiles associated with AI-driven investments, offering new insights into their potential for sustainable investment strategies. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of how cutting-edge AI technologies are influencing financial decision-making, paving the way for more informed and strategic investment practices in an increasingly AI-integrated financial landscape.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudio Boido & Mauro Aliano, 2025. "Artificial intelligence exchange-traded funds: the intersection of finance, technology and sustainability," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(4), pages 345-354, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:assmgt:v:26:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1057_s41260-025-00408-0
    DOI: 10.1057/s41260-025-00408-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41260-025-00408-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41260-025-00408-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Haileslasie Tadele & Xinfeng Ruan & Weihan Li, 2022. "Corporate governance and firm-level jump and volatility risks," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(22), pages 2529-2553, May.
    2. Barberis, Nicholas & Thaler, Richard, 2003. "A survey of behavioral finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 18, pages 1053-1128, Elsevier.
    3. Miguel A. Ferreira & Paul A. Laux, 2007. "Corporate Governance, Idiosyncratic Risk, and Information Flow," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(2), pages 951-989, April.
    4. Ahsan Habib & Mostafa Monzur Hasan & Haiyan Jiang, 2018. "Stock price crash risk: review of the empirical literature," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(S1), pages 211-251, November.
    5. Hutton, Amy P. & Marcus, Alan J. & Tehranian, Hassan, 2009. "Opaque financial reports, R2, and crash risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 67-86, October.
    6. Hong, Harrison & Kacperczyk, Marcin, 2009. "The price of sin: The effects of social norms on markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 15-36, July.
    7. Chen, Rui & Ren, Jinjuan, 2022. "Do AI-powered mutual funds perform better?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    8. Seungho Baek & Kwan Yong Lee & Merih Uctum & Seok Hee Oh, 2020. "Robo-Advisors: Machine Learning in Trend-Following ETF Investments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-15, August.
    9. Amal Aouadi & Sylvain Marsat, 2018. "Do ESG Controversies Matter for Firm Value? Evidence from International Data," Post-Print halshs-02007374, HAL.
    10. Kovvuri, Veera Raghava Reddy & Fu, Hsuan & Fan, Xiuyi & Seisenberger, Monika, 2023. "Fund performance evaluation with explainable artificial intelligence," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PB).
    11. Amal Aouadi & Sylvain Marsat, 2018. "Do ESG Controversies Matter for Firm Value? Evidence from International Data," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 1027-1047, September.
    12. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    13. Dumitrescu, Ariadna & Zakriya, Mohammed, 2022. "Governance, information flow, and stock returns," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    14. Klaus Grobys & James W. Kolari & Joachim Niang, 2022. "Man versus machine: on artificial intelligence and hedge funds performance," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(40), pages 4632-4646, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Raymond Kwong & Man Lung Jonathan Kwok & Helen S. M. Wong, 2023. "Green FinTech Innovation as a Future Research Direction: A Bibliometric Analysis on Green Finance and FinTech," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-27, October.
    2. Teng, Chia-Chen & Yang, J. Jimmy, 2021. "Media exposure on corporate social irresponsibility and firm performance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    3. Mohamed Rashwan & Nardin Farouk & Rania Pasha, 2025. "Can ESG Strategies Drive Firm Value Growth in the MENA Region?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-30, September.
    4. Dan Hu & Eunju Lee & Bingxin Li, 2023. "Trade secrets protection and stock price crash risk," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 58(2), pages 395-421, May.
    5. Zhang, Junsheng & Peng, Zezhi & Zeng, Yamin & Yang, Haisheng, 2023. "Do big data mutual funds outperform?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Wong, Jin Boon & Zhang, Qin, 2022. "Stock market reactions to adverse ESG disclosure via media channels," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1).
    7. Cédric van Appelghem & Pascal Nguyen, 2020. "Do CEO-Board ties affect the firm's cost of equity? [La proximité entre le dirigeant et les administrateurs a-t-elle un impact sur le coût des fonds propres ?]," Working Papers hal-02880367, HAL.
    8. Yu, Haixu & Liang, Chuanyu & Liu, Zhaohua & Wang, He, 2023. "News-based ESG sentiment and stock price crash risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Dorfleitner, Gregor & Kreuzer, Christian & Sparrer, Christian, 2022. "To sin in secret is no sin at all: On the linkage of policy, society, culture, and firm characteristics with corporate scandals," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 762-784.
    10. Andrieș, Alin Marius & Sprincean, Nicu, 2023. "ESG performance and banks’ funding costs," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    11. Sabbaghi, Omid, 2022. "The impact of news on the volatility of ESG firms," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    12. David Hirshleifer & Po-Hsuan Hsu & Dongmei Li, 2018. "Innovative Originality, Profitability, and Stock Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(7), pages 2553-2605.
    13. Abdullah A. Aljughaiman & Kaouther E. Chebbi, 2022. "Do Investor Overconfidence and Loss Aversion Drive Saudi Firm Market Performance? The Moderating Effect of Corporate Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-15, August.
    14. Wei Hao & Andrew Prevost & Udomsak Wongchoti, 2018. "Are Low Equity R2 Firms More or Less Transparent? Evidence from the Corporate Bond Market," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 47(4), pages 865-909, December.
    15. Kee-Hong Bae & Jin-Mo Kim & Yang Ni, 2013. "Is Firm-specific Return Variation a Measure of Information Efficiency?," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 13(4), pages 407-445, December.
    16. Rashid Zaman & Stephen Bahadar & Haroon Mahmood, 2021. "Corporate irresponsibility and stock price crash risk," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 21(3), pages 786-820, September.
    17. David Hirshleife, 2015. "Behavioral Finance," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 133-159, December.
    18. Komath, Muhammed Aslam Chelery & Doğan, Murat & Sayılır, Özlem, 2023. "Impact of corporate governance and related controversies on the market value of banks," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    19. Shakil, Mohammad Hassan, 2024. "Environmental, social and governance controversies: A bibliometric review and research agenda," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    20. Chai, Hongrui & Cheng, Zhenhao & Wu, Weixing, 2025. "Is ESG performance a protective umbrella for ESG violations?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:assmgt:v:26:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1057_s41260-025-00408-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.