Actively managed exchange-traded funds are having a moment, but it’s not going to be a passing fad.
This year alone, a record number of ETFs have been introduced, with 288 new funds and the potential for over 1,000 new ETFs by this year’s end, many bringing actively managed strategies from the traditional mutual fund world to ETFs. There are currently more than 2,000 active ETFs, and while they only make up about 10% of total ETF market assets, they have taken in over one-third of the flows this year from investors and reached the $1 trillion mark in total assets this year.
ETF experts say as more major fund companies add actively managed portfolios, it will help to shape the ETF industry’s long-term future. Case in point is the biggest index fund company of all, Vanguard. Vanguard has launched eight active fixed-income ETFs.
Roger Hallam, Vanguard global head of rates, cites these…