[ U P D AT E ]
Fund managers
demand more
education for ETF
investing
THE GROWTH RATE IN THE
EUROPEAN ETF MARKET
OUTSTRIPPED THE US FOR THE
FIRST TIME.
60%
of survey respondents felt they
needed greater education
over new launches.
12
Global Custodian
F
und managers and investors want more
education around new exchange-traded
fund (ETF) products before increasing their
exposure, according to a survey by Brown
Brothers Harriman (BBH).
According to the survey of 283 financial
advisors, fund managers and institutional
investors across Europe, around one-quar-
ter cited ‘not fully understanding ETFs’ as
one of the reasons they have not increased
exposure.
Meanwhile, 60% of respondents felt they
needed greater education over new launch-
es, and almost half said they did not know
where liquid alternatives would fit into their
portfolio.
“Those asset managers who are able and
willing to provide more in-depth ETF educa-
tion to investors have a growing opportunity
to add assets from existing customers, and
cultivate new ones,” said Andrew Craswell,
senior vice president, BBH ETF services.
“As investors continue to move towards
lower cost investment strategies, so too
are they calling for increased guidance and
The Hedge Fund Annual 2018
education, particularly around new ETF
products and the associated strategies,
which are becoming increasingly complex.
European asset managers should grasp this
opportunity.”
The survey also found 76% of European
ETF investors cite environmental, social and
governance (ESG) factors as ‘somewhat or
very important’ when making investment
decisions, while only 51% of US investors
said in the same in BBH’s survey last year.
Furthermore, while the size of the ETF
market in the US dwarfs the European
market, the 40% growth rate in Europe
exceeded the US growth of 34%, the first
time this has occurred.
$4 trillion
global assets invested in ETFs surpassed
the $4 trillion mark in 2017.