HSBC Asset Management (HSBC AM) has announced the creation of ETF & Indexing, which brings together all of the firms’ passive funds, mandates and solutions under a single umbrella.
ETF & Indexing will be co-driven by the firm’s Investments and Sales teams, and led by Thorsten Michalik, in addition to his responsibilities as Global Head of Wholesale Business and Partnerships. Current Global Head of ETF Sales, Olga De Tapia, will take up an expanded role of Global Head of ETF & Indexing Sales, while Guillaume Rabault, CIO of Quantitative Equity, will oversee a dedicated ETF & Indexing team within Investments.
The bank writes that the creation of ETF & Indexing reflects the strategic importance of passives to the business and will result in an improved product and service offering for clients. It follows the strong growth of the firm’s ETF, index and systematic fund range, with passive assets under management (AUM) growing from USD70 billion as at September 2020 to USD103 billion as at 30 September 2021. This includes USD18 billion in ETFs.
The bank writes that this growth has been accelerated by the launch of new strategies responding to increasing investor demand for specific solutions, including the recent launch of the firm’s first sustainable Fixed Income ETFs, Europe’s first ETF to track the Hang Seng Tech index, a range of sustainable and Paris aligned equity ETFs, as well as the launch of the HSBC Developed World Sustainable Equity Index Fund earlier this year.
Thorsten Michalik says: “Bringing together all of our passive funds, mandates and solutions under a single umbrella will enable us to continue providing clients with comprehensive passive solutions that meet their diverse and changing needs.”
In 2020, HSBC AM set out its strategy to re-position the business as a core solutions and specialist emerging markets, Asia and alternatives focused asset manager, with client centricity, investment excellence and sustainable investing as key enablers.
