Creative Planning, a U.S. comprehensive asset manager with $178.7 billion in assets under management, significantly increased its exposure to spot Bitcoin ETFs and Bitcoin treasury company Strategy, according to its third-quarter Form 13F filing.
Creative Planning, a major independent registered investment adviser (RIA) headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, made substantial additional purchases of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and shares of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), regarded as a Bitcoin-equity proxy, during the third quarter of 2026. The move is drawing attention because the large institution, with total assets under management of $178.7 billion, continues to expand its exposure to Bitcoin-related assets while managing a traditional portfolio centered on stocks and bonds.
According to the institutional investment holdings disclosure (Form 13F) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the third quarter of 2026, Creative Planning increased its holdings of Bitcoin-linked ETFs by approximately 43% from the previous quarter. Key positions included Grayscale’s GBTC (Grayscale Bitcoin Trust) and ARKB (ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF). The total value of the firm’s reported 13F portfolio rose 4.5% from the previous quarter to approximately $178.7 billion across 4,405 individual positions. This indicates that allocations to crypto ETFs grew at a faster pace as the overall portfolio expanded.
Creative Planning showed an even more aggressive buying stance toward Strategy ($MSTR), which has incorporated Bitcoin as a core reserve asset on its corporate balance sheet. During the third quarter, Creative Planning more than doubled its Strategy holdings, increasing them to a total of 76,807 shares. This shows that institutional investors are not only using regulated spot ETFs for direct price exposure, but are also including shares of Bitcoin treasury companies as a differentiated investment vehicle, alongside companies that accumulate Bitcoin using their own capital raising and debt issuance as leverage.
However, within Creative Planning’s overall asset-allocation structure, Bitcoin-related positions still account for a relatively conservative level consistent with diversified investing. The portfolio’s largest allocations are iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), which tracks the S&P 500 at approximately 10.8%, and Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND), which tracks a broad U.S. bond index at approximately 5.5%. Industry experts said that large asset managers are displaying a typical institutional allocation pattern: keeping traditional safe-haven assets and index equities at the core while gradually adding Bitcoin and Bitcoin proxy stocks as alternative assets intended to generate modest excess returns (alpha) and hedge against inflation.