National Bank of Canada Capital Markets | Best Capital Markets Team in Canada | Best Overall ETF Liquidity Provider/Market Maker in Canada | Best Market Maker/Authorised Participant – Equity ETFs in Canada | Best ETF Research Provider in Canada
In this interview, firstly, Daniel Straus, Managing Director, ETFs & Financial Products Research, National Bank of Canada Capital Markets, explains why his firm’s research division is an important part of their award-winning team, and then Frederic Viger, Managing Director, Co-Head of Institutional Sales ETFs – Equity Derivatives, adds his comments on the firm’s further wins.
What is the size and scale of your business?
Daniel Straus: Our ETF research covers all Canadian and US ETFs. In Canada alone there are almost 50 providers, managing nearly CAD1 trillion.
What trends have you seen over the past year?
ETFs in Canada smashed all inflow records last year. CAD125 billion flooded into the ecosystem in 2025, and the same pace has continued into 2026 so far. Trade wars (and actual wars) have unfortunately intensified, but ETFs remain central to the conversation for helping large and small investors alike manage their hopes and anxieties around the future.
What plans do you have for growing your business over the coming year?
Our five-person team of analysts and associates publishes frequently, including theme pieces, strategy notes, and flow reports. We also field dozens of requests a week from wealth managers of every stripe. Given the scale of our activity, we have a gold mine of unstructured data on ETF-related research queries, which we are using new tools to analyse and develop.
Where do you see the ETF industry going in terms of products over the coming year?
Investors remain persistently optimistic, despite short-term shocks and geopolitical stress. The artificial intelligence revolution is ongoing, and its ultimate effects on valuations, productivity, and innovation are being decided in real-time. Meanwhile, ETFs launch every day – new categories of derivative-based products, single-stock ETFs, active multi-asset strategies, and unique fixed income exposures are coming to market, so the demand for ETF research has never been higher.
Why do you think you won this award?
Our success at National Bank comes from our cross-disciplinary nature. Our desk is number one in market making and can also support an independent and objective research team to support and nurture the growing and precious ETF industry.
Frederic Viger: For over 20 years we have focused on building a comprehensive full-service ETF offering to support ETF issuers, advisors, retail investors, and institutional money managers. We are successfully accomplishing this through a relentless pursuit of superior technology and development of our talented personnel. As a result, we have maintained top share of secondary market ETF volume and we are the Designated Broker on more than any other market maker in Canada.
The awards reflect the cross-disciplinary collaborative culture at National Bank of Canada. We have retained the industry’s top experts including our team of technology specialists, as well as our nimble trade support and operations teams that have been able to adapt to the fast-changing regulatory environment. Our prime brokerage and retail structuring teams have also been instrumental in driving idea generation with issuers. These ETF Express awards further inspire us to help grow the ETF ecosystem in Canada. As the top ETF desk in the country, we seek to add value to all ETF market participants, and we do this with spirit of intellectual honesty and objectivity. The goal is always to help clients first.
