The Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE) is more than a regional milestone — it is a shift in competition among U.S. capital markets. After months of anticipation, the TXSE reached a major landmark last week as Texas Capital’s TXS and OILT ETFs became its first primary listings, followed a day later by PWRX as the first new ETF to launch on the exchange. While a handful of ETFs alone will not reshape the ETF market, they represent the first test of whether issuers see value in a new Texas-based listing venue and the beginning of TXSE’s broader effort to compete with established exchanges.
Key Takeaways:
- TXSE’s first ETF listings mark the opening phase of its broader push into U.S. listings.
- Texas is becoming a new battleground as TXSE, NYSE Texas, and Nasdaq Texas compete for issuers.
- For investors, the listing venue matters less directly, but greater exchange competition could improve liquidity, services, and costs.
Recent Listings Demonstrate a Strong Start for TXSE
Last week, the Texas Stock Exchange made headlines as several ETF issuers marked important milestones for the new exchange. On Wednesday, September 16, Dallas-based Texas Capital transferred the Texas Capital Texas Equity Index ETF (TXS) and the Texas Capital Texas Oil Index ETF (OILT) from NYSE to TXSE, making these ETFs the exchange’s first primary listings.
The following day, Westwood Holdings Group — also Dallas-based — launched the Westwood Salient Enhanced Power & Infrastructure ETF (PWRX), which made it the first new ETF to launch directly on TXSE. The exchange has continued adding products since then: the Brookmont Catastrophic Bond ETF (ILS) moved its listing from NYSE to TXSE on September 18, while the Calamos Timpani Active SMID Growth ETF (CTAG) began trading on TXSE on September 21 following its conversion from a mutual fund.
I joined other members of the CFA Society of Dallas/Fort Worth (pictured above) at the opening bell ceremony for PWRX at the Dallas Westwood office. Beyond the local significance of these events, the early group of listings provides an interesting look at the type of issuers TXSE is trying to attract.
The $2.9 Trillion Rationale for Texas
According to the Office of the Texas Governor site, the state’s economy reached $2.9 trillion in 2025. Texas was also America’s top job creator as its population continues to explode. As a result, the Texas economy is now the eighth largest in the world (compared next to entire countries). It even surpasses countries like Canada, Russia, Mexico, and South Korea.
Beyond size, Texas continues to market a distinctly pro-business backdrop. It has no personal or corporate income tax, a relatively low-cost operating environment, and a deep bench of major employers and public companies. The state is home to 57 Fortune 500 headquarters (the most in the nation), 1 in 10 publicly traded companies in the U.S., and over 3.5 million small businesses. Taken together, this setting can help support the long-term thesis for having its own stock exchange.
ETFs Are Just the First Stage
ETFs represent the first stage of TXSE’s larger listings rollout. The exchange began accepting primary ETF listings on September 16, while primary corporate listings are scheduled to begin October 5.
That makes the initial ETF group an early test of TXSE’s ability to attract issuers and build liquidity around securities for which it serves as the primary exchange. The larger test will come as TXSE begins competing for company listings. Several companies have already announced transfers including Energy Transfer (ET), Sunoco (SUN), USA Compression Partners (USAC), Dillard’s (DDS), and Texas Capital Bancshares (TCBI) are scheduled to begin trading with primary listings on TXSE in early October.
That pipeline puts the ETF launches into a broader context. TXSE is not necessarily trying to build a niche exchange for Texas-focused ETFs or Texas-based issuers only — it is using ETFs as the opening phase of a broader push into U.S. primary listings.
NYSE and Nasdaq Also Target Dallas
Both the NYSE and Nasdaq have recently established Texas-based exchanges in Dallas, creating an unusual concentration of competing listing venues in the state.
NYSE Texas launched in 2025 after NYSE Chicago reincorporated in Texas and changed its name. For corporate securities, NYSE Texas has primarily emphasized dual listings, allowing companies to add a Texas listing while maintaining their primary listing elsewhere. Its rules also support primary and dual listings for ETPs/ETFs. Nasdaq Texas followed in March 2026 as a dual-listing venue. In September, Nasdaq Texas filed rule changes with the SEC designed to enable it to become a primary listing venue as well.
Does it Matter for the Investor?
For Texas-based managers like Texas Capital, Westwood, and Brookmont, listing on TXSE can provide a branding benefit by aligning the fund with the state’s growing financial services industry.
But the listing exchange does more than align a brand. Exchanges compete for ETF listings through pricing, technology, market-maker incentives, and the level of support. For example, TXSE’s Lead Market Maker program provides incentives to market makers that meet specified performance standards, with the exchange stating that the program is designed to improve quoting and displayed liquidity in TXSE-listed ETFs.
While ultimately the exchange may matter relatively little to the end investor, investors could potentially benefit through those improved trading conditions.
A Look at the First 5 ETFs on TXSE
Many of these ETFs have an important connection to Texas, but not all carry the same relationship.
Texas Capital Texas Equity Index ETF (TXS)
TXS tracks the Texas Capital Texas Equity Index, which is designed to capture the performance of publicly listed companies headquartered in Texas. The strategy seeks to capitalize on the macroeconomic trends of companies operating in the state’s favorable business environment.
To reflect the diversity of the Texas economy, the index assigns sector weights based on each industry’s contribution to Texas private-sector GDP, as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Within each sector, companies are then weighted by market capitalization, helping the portfolio more closely reflect the breadth of the Texas economy rather than concentrating in the state’s largest companies.
It is the most diversified ETF of its Texas-focused peer group, with around 20% weight in energy and an 11 to 15% weight in each of technology, real estate, healthcare, industrials, and consumer discretionary sectors (according to Bloomberg as of September 21, 2026). Top 10 holdings include well-known companies like Crowdstrike Holdings (CRWD), McKesson Corp (MCK), and Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW).
TXS launched in July 2023 and currently has around $40 million in assets. Its move to TXSE is particularly significant because both the investment thesis and its issuer (Dallas-headquartered Texas Capital) are directly tied to the state. Texas Capital will also be the move its own stock’s listing to the TXSE on October 8.
Texas Capital Texas Oil Index ETF (OILT)
This ETF tracks the Alerian Texas Weighted Oil and Gas Index. The index weighs companies that extract oil and gas within Texas, with eligibility tied to firms responsible for more than 0.1% of the state’s annual oil and gas production over the past 10 years, based on Texas Railroad Commission data. That methodology makes OILT more differentiated than a traditional market-cap-weighted energy fund, because portfolio weights connect more directly to actual production footprint in Texas rather than company size.
OILT is an option for investors who want more precise exposure to Texas oil production rather than broad U.S. energy exposure. OILT is up around 35% so far this year.
Westwood Salient Enhanced Power & Infrastructure ETF (PWRX)
PWRX also has a strong connection to Texas, although its investment thesis is not specifically linked to the state. Westwood Holdings Group is headquartered in Dallas, while the fund is managed by Westwood’s Houston-based energy team. The ETF invests across traditional energy and utilities, grid infrastructure, data-center infrastructure, and next-generation energy technologies — several areas that overlap closely with Texas’ role as a major U.S. energy and infrastructure hub.
Along with its portfolio of power and infrastructure companies, the fund uses a covered-call strategy designed to generate additional income, with monthly distributions.
Brookmont Catastrophic Bond ETF (ILS)
Brookmont Capital Management was founded in 2007 and is based in Dallas, where the firm manages more than $1 billion in assets. ILS originally launched on the NYSE in April 2025 before moving its primary listing to TXSE on September 18, 2026.
ILS is the first U.S.-listed ETF dedicated primarily to catastrophe bonds before transferring its primary listing to TXSE. Catastrophe bonds allow insurance-related risks such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters to be transferred into capital markets, giving investors an alternative source of income and diversification that is less directly connected to traditional stock and bond markets.
Calamos Timpani Active SMID Growth ETF (CTAG)
CTAG invests in small- and mid-cap growth companies using an actively managed, bottom-up process focused on fundamental momentum, targeting companies with sustainable growth and improving earnings expectations.
CTAG began trading on TXSE on September 21 after it converted from a mutual fund into an ETF, making it the first active mutual fund-to-ETF conversion to list on the exchange. Unlike the exchange’s first four ETFs, CTAG has no obvious Texas-related investment thesis. That makes the listing an important indicator that TXSE does not intend to rely solely on Texas-focused investment products or Texas-based managers to build its ETF business.
Bottom Line:
TXSE’s first ETF listings are small in scale but significant as an early indicator of whether a new exchange can attract issuers and build credible liquidity. More importantly, the launches are part of a broader shift that is turning the business-friendly state of Texas into a more competitive center for U.S. exchange listings.
VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”) is the index administrator and calculation agent for OILT, for which it receives a fee. However, OILT is not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi, and VettaFi has no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of OILT.
Originally posted on ETF Trends
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