J.P. Morgan Asset Management | Best Active ETF Issuer ($500m+) – Q&A with Olivier Paquier, Head of EMEA ETF Distribution.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management | Best Active ETF Issuer ($500m+) – Q&A with Olivier Paquier, Head of EMEA ETF Distribution.
Why do you think you won this award?
At J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) we focus on bringing the best solutions to our clients. ETFs can play a significant role in this respect. Many investors are increasingly finding that pure beta is not necessarily enough to achieve performance objectives and are willing to combine passive and active capabilities with ETFs.
At J.P. Morgan Asset Management, we have a myriad of outstanding active investment capabilities that we can package into ETFs in order to offer cost efficient and transparent solutions, which bring innovations in the ETF market. In February 2022, for example, we launched the industry’s first active China equities UCITS ETF.
What is the size and scale of your business at the moment?
We currently have 26 UCITS ETFs across different asset classes and manage USD8 billion of assets. The JP Morgan Research Enhanced Index Equity (ESG) ETF range and Ultra Short ETF range (both active ranges) have garnered a lot of interest over the past year. We are also very proud to look at the industry and realise that we currently have the largest active equity ETF range in the UCITS space with over USD2.5 billion in AUM.
We have an exciting ETF launch pipeline planned, which will tap into many topics and themes that are top of mind for investors.
What trends have you seen over the past year?
Last year was another impressive year for UCITS ETFs, which saw record net flows of USD191 billion – bringing total assets under management to USD1.5 trillion. There were clearly two huge trends: ESG and Thematics.
Last year the largest share (44 per cent) of flows went into ESG ETFs – a trend which we have seen strengthen over the past few years. If you look at equity ETFs only, 94 per cent of total flows went into SFDR Article 8 or 9 products. There is lots of money in motion going into the ESG space.
For thematics, investors have really embraced adding thematic exposure to portfolios. There is also a huge overlap with the ESG topic for example with the clean energy theme, but also topics like Technology, Robotics or Connectivity saw lots of interest.
Where do you see the ETF industry going in terms of products over the coming year?
We see the growth outlook for the ETF market as very promising. By 2025 we think the UCITS ETF market as a whole should reach around USD4 trillion of AUM overall, including UCITS ETFs sold outside of Europe.
In terms of products, I believe that ESG will continue to grow significantly and become more tailored with time, delivering solutions that are more customised to meet both growing demand and a growing range of diverse needs. Also, I believe the active space will continue to grow as regulators continue to push for transparency. When ESG and active capabilities are combined in the ETF wrapper, it offers a great foundation for innovation when it comes to thematic ETFs, equities and fixed income.
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