Actively managed exchange traded funds (ETFs) are still waiting for their ship to come in, but that doesn’t exactly mean that the segment of the industry has done a belly flop.
Since September 2009, about 14 actively managed ETFs have launched. Today, there are 28 such ETFs trading, Howard J. Stock for Financial Planning reports. [How NAV Affects Actively Managed ETF.]
After 10 months on the market, two-thirds of the existing ETFs account for less than $30 million in assets. Active equity ETFs (there are 11 trading today) account for about $100 million in assets. [6 Reasons Actively Managed ETFs Better Than Mutual Funds.]
Does this mean that actively managed ETFs are doomed? Not quite. There are a number of active products (some of which are more active than others, mind you) that have done well with investors.
The most successful “active” ETF is Wisdom Tree’s Chinese Yuan Currency ETF (NYSRArca: CYB), which currently has about $600 million in assets. PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Strategy (NYSEArca: MINT) is another success story – it has more than $300 million in assets.
The response to active ETFs has been tempered by the fact that many of them just haven’t gotten the three-year track record that investors like to see before they decide whether they want to invest in a fund. If the fund hasn’t proved that it can generate alpha, investors may simply hold off until it can.
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.