More than three-quarters of US financial advisers (78 per cent) plan to increase their use of exchange-traded funds in retail investors’ portfolios next year, according to a survey by Guggenheim Investments.
The poll was carried out at the Morningstar’s ETF Invest Conference in Chicago between 3 and 5 October.
Some 71 per cent of the advisers who are bullish on ETFs listed the vehicles’ convenience and liquidity as the biggest advantages in retail investor portfolios, while sixteen per cent cited low costs as their biggest advantage. The remaining 13 per cent identified transparency and tax advantages as the biggest benefits of using fixed-income ETFs.
“While the anticipated tax changes in 2013 may not have an immediate impact on ETF industry growth, there will be implications for how advisors are managing their clients’ portfolios,” says William Belden, director of product development at Guggenheim Investments. “The potential benefits of fixed income ETFs, such as liquidity and convenience, will be a significant impetus to advisers’ increased usage of fixed income ETFs.”
