Willie Wonka and ESG

What started out as something so promising has quickly turned into a bit of a car crash, it seems. We are now at the stage where firms are actually avoiding using the term ESG altogether.
It reminds us a bit like the movie Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where one of the kids eats so much candy that she ends up exploding. Similarly, so many ETF asset managers jumped on the ESG bandwagon and the green washing became so prevalent, that they ended up in a similar situation to poor Violet.

ETF: What’s the secret sauce and how do you find it?

The secret sauce to the success in ETFs

Everyone says that ETFs are a scale game and only the large firms can succeed. However, there are many small firms who one could claim to be very successful in ETFs, punching above their weight so to speak.
But what is the secret to their success? Is it good luck, good timing, good management, good products, good branding and distribution or a sprinkling of all of the above?

Will ARK be the catalyst for Active ETF growth in Europe?

It was announced ARK Invest was taking over RIZE and then that Robeco would be launching a European ETF business.

Sometimes you wait for a bus for ages and then all of a sudden two of them come along together. It felt a bit like that this week in Europe when it was announced ARK Invest was taking over RIZE and then that Robeco would be launching a European ETF business. Both of these are Active managers so we can assume they will NOT be launching passive products.

The biggest problem in ETFs right now

Anyone reading this sits within the ETF bubble, and within the bubble we all assume a base level of knowledge of the ETF ecosystem. However, outside of the bubble, the level of knowledge around ETFs is pitifully low and we are not talking about the man and woman in the street, but professionals within the wider asset management space.

Back to school time

Coming back after the summer break always reminds us of the return to school, those dreaded back to school adverts, buying school uniforms and getting new books for the year ahead. Yuck

For those of you shuffling back into the office you missed out on last week’s big news. Grayscale gave the SEC a bloody nose and the price of Bitcoin took a jump as a result. High drama indeed. Who said summer was always a quiet time.

Why build an ETF business when you can simply buy one?

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Firms are simply apprehensive in building it themselves and screwing it up and so are content to pay more to ensure this scenario does not materialise. Building it yourself is cheaper long term and you create more value, 100%. It’s been done many times and the path is clear.

Can the Boutique ETF manager swim with the sharks?

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There is no doubt that this has been the year of Fixed Income so far. Record inflows ytd, BlackRock calling this a “once in a generation” opportunity in the fixed income space”. But, what about those boutique ETF managers who only focus on say Thematic products or equity exposure to a particular market?

Who would like to be a mutual fund manager CEO right now?

It has been forecasted that assets managed by model portfolios will surge to $10 trillion (€9.1 trillion) over the next five years and PWCs predicts that one in six global asset managers will ‘fall to the wayside’ by 2027.

US Bitcoin ETF application frenzy reminds us of Jaws

It has been wild since BlackRock submitted its application for a Bitcoin ETF. Seemingly, BlackRock received some pushback from the SEC, but crucially the SEC issued guidance around what they have a problem with which has not led to a bunch of managers revising their filing and resubmitting.

ETF managers are nothing if an opportunistic bunch

ETFs bounced back this October

Following last week’s news that BlackRock had filed for a Spot ETF in the US there has been a scurry of activity from other managers following in their tracks all hoping to join the party on BlackRock’s coat tails.