For the first time, long-term mutual fund and exchange traded fund assets under management held by registered investment advisors rose faster than in any other retail channel.
According to Broadridge Financial Solutions, RIAs increased their stake in mutual funds and ETFs by over 12% over the first half of 2014, outpacing demand on a percentage basis of other retail channels, like independent broker-dealers.
RIA channels attracted $1.8 trillion in long-term mutual fund and ETF assets over the first half of the year, up $200 billion for the same period year-over-year.
“As investors continue to gravitate toward independent advice models, we expect to see sustained growth in the RIA channel,” Frank Polefrone, Senior Vice President, Access Data, said in the press release. “For the first half of 2014, the RIA channel had the largest increase in absolute dollars for both ETFs and long-term mutual funds across all channels.”
Due to the rising demand through RIA channels, fund providers may do better to target this specific segment of the market.
According to a separate Broadridge report, RIA mutual fund and ETF assets hit $1.62 trillion as of the end of 2013, surpassing total assets held by the top four wirehouse firms. Looking within the RIA industry, mid-sized RIAs with $100 million to $1 billion in assets represent the best prospect for fund providers.
Independent RIAs with $300 million to $1 billion in assets under management, on average, devote 16.1% of assets to ETFs compared to 8.1% allocated to ETFs by RIAs with more than $2 billion in AUM. [Smaller RIAs Embrace ETFs]
“By understanding the unique characteristics of these firms in terms of product usage, the client base they serve, and their general investment philosophies, funds can better position their products and grow assets,” Polefrone added.
For more information on the ETF industry, visit our current affairs category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.