Of institutional investors surveyed by Russell Investments with more than $100 billion in assets, 88% “have evaluated smart beta or plan to do so in the next 18 months; 77% of respondents with assets between $1 billion and $10 billion, and 50% of those with assets under $1 billion responded similarly,” said Russell in a study released earlier this year. [Institutions Boost Use of Smart Beta ETFs]
Speaking of growth, “over the next three years, institutions plan on increasing their use of smart beta ETFs more than any other category (including market-cap weighted ETFs),” according to a study conducted last year by PowerShares, the fourth-largest U.S. issuer, and Cogent. [Bright Futures for Smart Beta ETFs]
As eFinancial News notes, First Trust is looking to capitalize on the success of its AlphaDEX products by expanding the product line in Europe. First Trust last year launched three exchanged traded funds that trade on the London Stock Exchange. The firm would also like to launch Europe-listed ETFs tracking U.S. small-caps, sectors and single-country Europe ETFs. [First Trust Looking to Expand in Europe]
First Trust Consumer Staples AlphaDEX Fund
