ETF managed portfolios to double to $700bn?

  • About $350 billion in assets globally are held in ETF managed portfolios
  • BlackRock projects ETF managed portfolios could double to more than $700 billion by 2020
  • ETF managed portfolios could also account for 19% of multi-asset strategies by 2020

The Exchange Traded Fund managed portfolio segment could help provide the next growth spurt in the ETF industry as multi-asset managers increase adoption of ETFs, according to a BlackRock report.

On Monday I met with Daniel Gamba, Head of iShares U.S. Institutional Business at BlackRock, during the Nasdaq closing bell ringing. He shared the results on their recent research regarding ETF Managed Portfolio assets and prospects for future growth.

BlackRock interviewed multi-asset managers at more than 40 asset management firms, which included asset managers, boutique asset managers, investment officers/consultants and retail insurers, and found that ETF managed portfolios and multi-asset strategies make up a much larger, and faster growing part of the asset management industry than previously believed.

They found that ETF managed portfolios now hold about $350 billion in assets globally, including $60 billion in separately managed accounts of retail model portfolios, and $290 billion in variable insurance trusts, mutual funds, collective trust funds, institutional separate accounts and UCITS.