Active ETFs gaining momentum

In the first ten months of 2015, record levels of net new assets have been gathered by active ETFs and ETPs that are listed globally, says ETFGI. There were net inflows of US$8.9 billion, and that marked a 23% increase over the prior record set in 2013.

Currently, the active ETF industry consists of 232 ETFs and ETPs, and assets of US$32.9 billion from 45 providers on 15 exchanges. Active funds and products account for 1.1% of the US$3-trillion invested in the global ETF and ETP industry.

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The largest market for active funds is the U.S. It’s followed by Europe, Canada and the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan).

When it comes to active ETFs, ETFGI says allocations to equity and fixed income are sitting at 18% and 73% of total assets, respectively. The opposite is seen with index products, where equity and fixed income exposures are 77% and 16%, respectively.

“Since 2007, more than 80 applications have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for active ETFs,” says Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at ETFGI. And now, “Many asset managers are waiting to see if [and] when the SEC allows non-transparent active ETFs.”

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