Our image this week reflects the blossoming growth of the ETF industry globally, but also the growth in demand for ESG investments accessed through the ETF vehicle. Our lead feature is a mid-summer, maybe even a July 4th, round up of views on the ETF industry from the US, from three leading financial planner firms, one adviser platform and Ben Slavin, Global Head of ETFs, Asset Servicing, BNY Mellon.
The news of Dimensional Fund Advisors’ successful launch of their new tax-managed ETFs, converted from mutual funds, has caused something of a ripple effect among the investing classes in the US. We asked our group of interviewees whether ETFs are set to vanquish mutual funds. You can read their answers on this and more in the piece.
We did also catch up with Nicole Hunter of Dimensional, shortly after that launch, and found her fighting fit and dealing with a huge number of enquiries and requests from advisers countrywide for more information on ETFs. Interviewing our adviser panel, we discovered that the tax advantages of ETFs in the US are undoubtedly a strong part of their popularity, a view echoed by Hunter, who says: “This year in particular, with all the things going around about taxes, even more advisers and their clients are tax-sensitive. So being able to offer ETFs that are highly tax-efficient vehicles now…the timing couldn’t be better.”
We also asked our panel about ESG investing, and found that it is becoming increasingly important for some clients – Orion’s Vanneman says: “It’s important to a minority of our clients, but to those that it is important, it is very important,”.
On the ESG subject, we interviewed Darek Wojnar, Global Head of Funds, ETFs and Managed Accounts and Sheri Hawkins, Head of Global Product at NTAM, who talked us through their introduction of the ESG Vector Score which will be used across the company’s investment teams in all of its asset allocation decisions.
Shout out for Canada and its booming ETF industry as well this week, with Michael Cooke, Mackenzie’s Head of ETFs, saying: “From a Canadian perspective as the ETF market continues to mature with more seasoned products, including more Canadian-listed products, Canadian investors are increasingly seeing the value and benefit of using Canadian listed products designed for Canadians by Canadians.”
BlackRock’s Brett Olson, Head of iShares Fixed Income EMEA, comments this week on the top themes influencing how clients are thinking about their ETF fixed income portfolios in the EMEA region, with inflation and rate volatility top of their minds.
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Beverly Chandler
Managing Editor, ETF Express
Companies in this issue
21 Shares
Amplify ETFs
Amundi
AuAg Funds
BDF Private Wealth
BlackRock
BNP Paribas
BNY Mellon
C2P Enterprises
Dimensional Fund Advisors
HANetf
IndexIQ
Janus Henderson
Mackenzie Investments
Purpose Investments
Northern Trust Asset Management
Orion Advisor Solutions
Pure Financial Advisors