The U.S. exchange traded fund industry has attracted a lot of interest. Turning overseas, how has the Europe-listed ETF market fared?
“I note with pleasure that, year after year, investors’ satisfaction with ETFs remain very high and the positive outlook for their future use continues to rise,” Valérie Baudson, Global Head of ETF & Indexing, Amundi, said in press release, commenting on the recent EDHEC European ETF Survey 2013, a comprehensive survey of 207 European ETF investors.
According to the survey, investor satisfaction has increased for corporate bond, commodity, real estate and sector ETFs, notably for ETFs based on the most liquid asset classes.
The survey found that product development has expanded investment usage of the ETF vehicle. Asset classes that saw an increase in usage include real estate up 5.8%, hedge funds up 14.8% and infrastructure up 14.8%.
“Interestingly, the latest EDHEC-Risk European ETF survey also shows an increasing interest in the development of ETFs based on alternative forms of indices,” Baudson added.
About 28% of respondents are including “smart-beta” index-based ETFs, with another 36% of respondents looking into smart-beta products. European investors can’t seem to get enough of alternative index-based ETFs, with 39% of respondents interested in more smart-beta options.