The exchange traded fund investment strategies, or ETF managed portfolios, segment of the market is quickly growing as advisors outsource fund portfolio services and cater to the greater demand for retirement and financial advice.
According to a press release, iShares research found that ETF Investment Strategies (EIS) – registered investment advisors (RIAs) or asset managers using ETFs as the core of an outsourced investment solutions business – is growing trend in every stage of the investment process, including broad allocation models to specific strategies. [Ex-Merrill Strategist Bernstein Launches ETF Model Portfolios]
Advisors are now providing “clients institutional quality portfolios and product innovation that once were too expensive and impractical for retail investors to own,” Sue Thompson, Head of iShares Registered Investment Advisor/Asset Management Group at BlackRock, said in the press release.
Thompson noted that the move into EIS marks a “true sea of change.”
“Advisors increasingly recognize that ETF Investment Strategists can help decrease time spent on portfolio issues, create more time for building client relationships, and yield distinctive advisory value via their delivery of model ETF portfolios,” Thompson added.
Currently, iShares tracks more than 200 ETF strategies from over 100 managers with $46 billion in assets. Morningstar is also following its own set of 370 portfolios with $27 billion in assets.[Should Advisors Use ETF Managed Portfolios?]