Sylvia Jablonski, Defiance ETFs

Sylvia Jablonski is the CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Defiance ETFs. When she first joined Behind the Ticker, Defiance was a small, scrappy thematic shop. Today the firm runs more than 13 billion dollars across 80-plus ETFs and launches new products almost every week. She returns to talk through two launches that say a lot about where the firm is headed: the first autism impact ETF ever brought to market, and a 2X leveraged play on what may become the biggest IPO in history.

On this episode, Sylvia sits down with Brad to get into the personal story behind the autism fund, why allocators are asking for products with a cause built into the structure, and how a firm growing this fast decides what to launch next.

The First Autism Impact ETF

The Defiance Autism Impact ETF (ASD) launched in early June 2026 as the first fund of its kind. The story behind it is personal. Defiance founder Matt Bielski and his wife have a child on the autism spectrum, and the fund is the institutional expression of everything they have learned navigating diagnosis, therapies, and the financial realities that come with care.

ASD covers the full ecosystem serving the autism community: behavioral health, diagnostics, educational platforms, biotech, and assistive technology. The structure is the part that stops people. Defiance is donating 100 percent of net advisory profits to autism causes for the first two years, and no less than 50 percent thereafter. The cause is not a marketing layer on top of the fund. It is wired into how the product is built.

The Investment Case

The numbers behind the theme are hard to ignore. One in 31 children is now diagnosed with autism. There are no FDA-approved treatments for the core symptoms. And the projected lifetime cost of care runs into the millions per family. Rising prevalence against a deep unmet need is the kind of demand curve that does not reverse on a market cycle.

Sylvia makes the point that this is no longer a niche conversation. Institutional allocators are increasingly asking for products that pair a real investment case with a cause structurally built in, and ASD was designed to sit squarely in that demand.

A 2X Bet on SpaceX

The conversation then turns to SPCU, the firm's 2X long SpaceX ETF, which launched this month alongside what may be the largest IPO in history. Sylvia explains why Defiance has been building space economy exposure for years rather than rushing in on the IPO headline, and what makes the commercial case for SpaceX genuinely compelling beyond the Elon Musk factor.

Defiance now offers one of the most complete suites of space-themed products on the market, spanning single-name, thematic, and basket structures. SPCU is the leveraged expression of a theme the firm has been laying groundwork on for a long time.

Building at Speed

Underneath both launches is a question Brad keeps coming back to: how does a firm launch this many products this quickly and still pick well? Sylvia is candid about the cadence. Defiance launches nearly every week, but the funds that matter are the ones built around a real thesis and a real audience, not just a clever ticker. ASD and SPCU are both examples of that, very different products that each answer a specific demand the firm saw before the rest of the market did.

Key Takeaways

• ASD is the first autism impact ETF, covering behavioral health, diagnostics, education, biotech, and assistive technology, with 100 percent of net advisory profits donated to autism causes for the first two years and no less than 50 percent after.
• The investment case rests on structural demand: one in 31 children diagnosed, no FDA-approved treatments for core symptoms, and lifetime care costs in the millions.
• SPCU is a 2X long SpaceX ETF launched ahead of a potentially record-setting IPO, and it sits inside a broader Defiance space suite years in the making.
• Defiance has scaled to more than 13 billion dollars across 80-plus ETFs while launching at a near-weekly cadence, with a focus on funds built around a genuine thesis.

Listen to the full conversation on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.