INDUCEMENTS: TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN?

34% believe that inducement payments should be banned citing concerns that this could negatively impact products and advice offered to their clients, according to a CFA study.

Australia: the forgotten ETF market

The Australian ETF industry is often overlooked, at least compared to the coverage in the US or Europe.
However, January started with a bang bringing the Australia ETF industry to a record $138.5 billion in AUM across approximately 240 ASX-listed ETFs.

Is the ETF market about to double in size?

JP Morgan’s Bryon Lake says the ETF market in the US is about to double in size in the next 5 years. If that is going to happen in the US, can we assume Europe and Asia might follow suit? Maybe not as the same pace, but the direction of travel is clear for sure.

Morgan Stanley crashes the ESG ETF party

Another juggernaut manager hits the ETF playing field with the announcement from Morgan Stanley that they are to launch a suite of six new ETFs – four indexed ESG strategies and two active ESG strategies across a range of asset classes.

Is Europe about to ban inducement fees?

Retrocession or inducement fees are the cancer of fund distribution in Europe (and Asia). So we were very interested to see the comments from the European Commissioner for Financial Stability, who said they are considering to ban them as part of its retail investment strategy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPY

30 years ago marked the real start of the ETF industry with the launch of SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), the first U.S.-listed and still-largest ETF. Little did those involved realise at the time that its launch would spark a revolution in investing, a theme that continues to this day.

IS ESG THE ONLY SHOW IN TOWN NOW?

ETFs aligned with ESG outcomes accounted for 65 per cent of all net inflows into European ETFs in 2022, even as ESG strategies underperformed. Now there is €249bn in ESG-aligned ETFs in Europe, representing 18.8 per cent of total assets

2023 HERE WE COME

2022 is over and most will say good riddance to hit. The ETF industry has continued to grow, but certainly took some hits last year from the blow up in crypto to the closure of most Russia focused ETFs. We have lost some firms along the way but have added a few new entrants.

DIRECT INDEXING: IS IT WORTH THE FUSS?

We have launched a new report where we investigate what direct indexing really is, and what it is not. We assess the potential for disruption on the asset management industry in the US and in Europe and look at whether direct indexing is worth the hype for different investors’ profiles.