Asset managers who are wary of jumping through all the hoops necessary to launch a fund may partner up with a white label ETF provider to quickly and cheaply bring their investment strategies to market through an ETF wrapper.
For example, the ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index ETF (NYSEArca: ROBO), the original ETF dedicated to robotics investing, and the Emerging Markets Internet & Ecommerce ETF (NYSEArca: EMQQ), which helps investors gain targeted exposure the growing emerging market consumer sector, have been popular investment strategies that came to the ETF market through a partnership with Exchange Traded Concepts. ROBO now has $2.1 billion in assets under management and EMQQ has $425.9 million in assets.
“So, we’ve really been helping, you know, the little asset manager, who’s taken and created an index, and then brought to market. So that’s really been one of our strengths,” Mike Cronan, Director of Marketing Services for Exchange Traded Concepts, said at the 2018 Morningstar Investment Conference.
Seeking to grow their assets under management, small money managers are taking a closer look at ETFs. However, some are turning to so-called white label, or turnkey, ETF companies to build and launch an investment idea.