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The Tidal Financial Group (Tidal) expanded rapidly over the last decade and encompassed multiple ETF related brands including Toroso Investments, Tidal ETF Services, and the ETF Think Tank. Going forward all activity will be unified under the Tidal brand as we become one company, dream, family, and platform focused on holistic ETF customer solutions.

Uncovering Opportunity in Active ETFs

Our ongoing love affair with active management in ETFs isn’t just a narrative, the latest Global ETF Survey confirms.

Conducted annually by Trackinsight (this year in partnership with J.P. Morgan and State Street), the survey found that global active ETF assets have grown more than four-fold in the past four years.  And data show that appetite for active ETFs is seen by both product providers, who see opportunity in the space, and allocators, who are investing in them.  

In its entirety, the report titled “Global ETF Survey 2024: 50+ Charts on Worldwide ETF Trends” tells us – in pictures – a story of a global industry in growth mode, with active management having quite a moment.

Consider, for instance, the increase in net launches of active ETFs vs. passive in North American markets in 2023 (NORAM for short) in the chart below. The absolute number of total net launches may not have eclipsed a previous record, but the spread between active and passive is remarkable, to the benefit of active:

Underscoring the significance of that spread is the fact that in the past year, we’ve seen our ETF open-to-close ratio drop to about 2 from as high as 5, meaning that for every 2 ETFs that open, 1 closes – a maturing industry that’s been welcoming a lot more active ETFs.

Meanwhile, allocators are taking a closer look at actively managed ETFs and increasing their allocations to them, as the charts below show.

Plot Twist?

One interesting wrinkle deeper in the numbers is where active is seen as delivering value. For example, the survey found that about 73% of advisors either invest in or have a “keen interest” in active ETFs, but many report that active management has delivered value-add mostly in equities – not fixed income or alternatives or something else. That perception of value is striking given the long historical track record of passive vs. active equity funds.

What’s more, a look at fixed income investing in the survey showed that allocators still share a slight preference for passive management in that asset class.  

These adoption trends are especially interesting because when it comes to actively managed ETFs in North America, it’s performance that leads decision-making and product choice, not the pursuit of diversification as is the case in EMEA region. So, advisors are finding – or chasing – outperformance in active ETFs and finding that value mostly in the equity space. Consider us a little surprised.

Looking Ahead

One possible implication of these findings is that we may have not yet tapped the potential for active management to deliver value across the ETF marketplace.

If you consider that advisors have yet to fully embrace active management across other asset classes, but a lot of product development is happening exactly there – in fixed income, in alternatives and in packaged one-ticker solutions – it could be that we have a lot more product development ahead of us, and more importantly, a lot more unlocking of value in the active ETF wrapper itself.

The good news: we are going to be exploring these trends more deeply come March 28. Together with NYSE, JP Morgan and State Street, we’ll have the opportunity to talk through the data and the stories behind it, looking to understand what’s driving ETF development and adoption and where value-add innovation will come from.

We’d love to have you join us for the “NYSE ETF Education Series: Uncovering Investor Trends from the 2024 Trackinsight Global Investor Survey.” Please sign up right here, and we hope to see you at 1pm ET sharp!

Disclosure

All investments involve risk, including possible loss of principal.

The material provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. The investment strategies mentioned here may not be suitable for everyone. Each investor needs to review an investment strategy for his or her own particular situation before making any investment decision.

All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market conditions. Data contained herein from third-party providers is obtained from what are considered reliable sources. However, its accuracy, completeness, or reliability cannot be guaranteed.

Examples provided are for illustrative purposes only and not intended to be reflective of results you can expect to achieve.

The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amounts originally invested, and can be affected by changes in interest rates, exchange rates, general market conditions, political, social, and economic developments, and other variable factors. Investment involves risks including but not limited to, possible delays in payments and loss of income or capital. Neither Tidal nor any of its affiliates guarantees any rate of return or the return of capital invested. This commentary material is available for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security and nothing herein should be construed as such. All investment strategies and investments involve risk of loss, including the possible loss of all amounts invested, and nothing herein should be construed as a guarantee of any specific outcome or profit. While we have gathered the information presented herein from sources that we believe to be reliable, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information presented and the information presented should not be relied upon as such. Any opinions expressed herein are our opinions and are current only as of the date of distribution, and are subject to change without notice. We disclaim any obligation to provide revised opinions in the event of changed circumstances.

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