It’s safe to say smart beta exchange traded funds are more than just a fad. Data confirm as much.
The second annual study titled The Evolution of Smart Beta ETFs, conducted by Invesco’s (NYSE: IVZ) PowerShares unit, the fourth-largest U.S. ETF issuer, and Market Strategies International, shows that use of smart beta ETFs by professional investors continues climbing. Institutional investors, including public and private pensions, endowments and registered investment advisors (RIAs), are increasingly favoring the alternative weighting methodologies made available by smart beta ETFs.
“Overall, smart beta ETFs accounted for 17% of US net ETF inflows in 2014, despite representing less than 11% of total assets. Today there are more than 350 smart beta ETFs available in the U.S. comprising over $230 billion in AUM, up from just 212 products and $64.8 billion in 2010,” according to the PowerShares study. [Smart Beta ETFs Keep Gaining Traction]
One of the ETFs that kick-started the smart beta movement is the PowerShares FTSE RAFI US 1000 Portfolio (NYSEArca: PRF), which celebrates its tenth anniversary in December. Invesco PowerShares Managing Director Dan Draper and Vice President of ETF Product Management John Feyerer joined ETF Trends publisher Tom Lydon to discuss PRF’s upcoming anniversary and, more importantly, the benefits of this ETF for advisors and investors.
“If you look at the way PowerShares, from the beginning, has tried to provide a broad toolkit to investors and advisors to build better outcomes, FTSE RAFI sits right in the middle of that,” said Draper. “It’s amazing now to have 10 years of history to go back and look at, certainly for advisors and investors that have been with us over the 10 years, really great performance.”