Dec 3 (Reuters) - Three separate asset management firms

launched exchange-traded funds on Tuesday, unveiling products

focused on securitized debt, the artificial intelligence

industry and Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk in the closing weeks of

a year that has seen a deluge of new funds.

New ETF offerings have exploded in 2024, as investors sought

ways to participate in the soaring U.S. stock market.

Year-to-date inflows for U.S.-listed ETFs are poised to cross

the $1 trillion mark this week for the first time ever. As of

late November, a record 612 ETFs had launched, compared to 480

last year, according to State Street Global Advisors.

The latest include the BondBloxx Private Credit CLO ETF

, which will give financial advisors and others access

to private CLOs, or collateralized loan obligations, issued by

middle-market corporations.

CLOs are pools of leveraged loans, structured as one

actively managed security. They have become a major source of

funding for non-investment grade companies seeking debt

financing.

More broadly, lending to companies by institutions other

than banks, known as private credit, has grown rapidly in recent

years as stricter regulations made it more expensive for

traditional lenders to finance riskier loans.

On Tuesday, BlackRock said it will buy private credit firm

HPS Investment Partners for about $12 billion in an all-stock

deal, as the world's largest asset manager seeks to expand in

the red-hot market.

Another launch, the VistaShares Artificial Intelligence

Supercycle ETF, will seek to invest in companies

building data centers and semiconductors for the AI industry.

Its largest position is in Vertiv Holdings Co. ( VRT ), which

designs and builds data center infrastructure and has seen its

shares soar nearly 170% this year.

The ETF is the first product from VistaShares, a new asset

management firm headed by Jon McNeill, former president of Tesla

and Adam Patti, former CEO of IndexIQ, an alternative

assets investment firm later acquired by New York Life.

Meanwhile, Defiance ETFs is offering investors the first

chance to get leveraged exposure to pharmaceutical giant Novo

Nordisk via its new Defiance Daily Target 2x Long NVO

ETF. The product is designed to deliver double the

daily price movement in Novo Nordisk, whose shares have gyrated

this year amid publicity for its diabetes and weight loss drug,

Ozempic.

"As with any new product, it remains to be seen if there

will be broad enough adoption to keep any of these new products

alive over the longer haul in a competitive market," said Todd

Rosenbluth, head of ETF research at VettaFi, a New York-based

market analysis firm.