“Active ETFs can be difficult to manage so a lot of active managers will think twice before doing this – it takes a group like JPMorgan, which has the resources to follow it through,” Ben Seager-Scott, senior research analyst at BestInvest, told the FT. “No one wants to flop a launch. Other groups will be watching with interest – if it takes off, perhaps they will be looking to bring their offerings over.”
Diana Mackay, chief executive of research firm Mackay Williams, believes active ETFs in Europe are an “extremely interesting move” but it will take time. Consequently, Mackay argues that the active ETFs will first gain traction among institutions before retail investors start picking them up.
According to ETFGI data, active ETFs have $20 billion in assets globally, with $16.1 billion in fixed-income, $2.6 in equities and the rest in currency products. PIMCO manages the four largest active ETFs, and of those, the third and fourth largest are UCITs-compliant funds registered in Europe. [Understanding Synthetic ETFs, UCITs and Counterparty Risks]
For more information on active ETFs, visit our actively managed ETFs category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.