Following its recent listings of precious metals on the LSE and 31 ETCs on the Borsa Italiana, ETF Securities Ltd (ETFS) has exceeded USD 750m of assets under management as of 1 May 2007.
Following its recent listings of precious metals on the LSE and 31 ETCs on the Borsa Italiana, ETF Securities Ltd (ETFS) has exceeded USD 750m of assets under management as of 1 May 2007. The increase in assets coincides with the further expansion of the team.
The breakthrough comes on the back of the London Stock Exchange listing of an entire (physically-backed) precious metals platform on 24 April 2007. This listing marked the first time platinum, palladium and a precious metals basket had been available to investors through ordinary brokerage accounts.
Alongside platinum and palladium, ETF Securities also listed silver (for the first time outside the US) and gold ETCs. Demand for these new ETCs has been strong: trading in the platinum and basket security finished in the top three ETCs each day last week and a total of $22 million of precious metals traded over the first five days.
The listing of 5 new physically backed ETCs comes 6 months after ETF Securities listed a silver, gold and precious metal ETC as part of an entire platform of 29 ETCs, all based on DJ-AIG Commodity Indices. These 29 ETCs have accumulated USD 550 million in assets with approximately 28% attributable to gold, silver and precious metals, highlighting the demand by investors for access to new asset classes.
This strong growth has led ETF Securities to expand its sales team further with the appointment of William Rhind as Head of UK and Irish sales. William brings with him a wealth of knowledge in the sales arena within the financial securities sector. He previously spent five years at Barclays Global Investors in London where he helped establish and build the largest Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) franchise in Europe. Prior to this, Rhind was an investment graduate at Nomura International in London.
Commenting on the increase in assets and the further growth of the team. Graham Tuckwell, Chairman of ETF Securities, said: "Following our ETC listings over the last six months on the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Bourse, Euronext Amsterdam, Euronext Paris, and Borsa Italiana, and our recent precious metal listings on the London Stock Exchange, we have seen significant growth in assets under management to break through USD 750m. The growth in assets confirms each exchange’s commitment to ETCs with the launch of dedicated ETC platforms in each country.’
‘The sales team has increased threefold in the past six months. With our latest addition, William Rhind’s sales experience and knowledge of exchange traded funds will be an invaluable asset to the team as we seek to continue our successful growth into new asset classes and products.
