Money managers who are interested in the ETF space have also partnered up with providers with a stable foothold to expand their own product lines and gain access to a wider investment audience.
For example, Aberdeen Standard Investments earlier this year acquired the U.S. business of ETF Securities, which has been known for its line of physically backed precious metals-related ETFs.
“We refocused our efforts back to the U.S., which led Aberdeen to the purchase of ETF Securities. That not only put some products on their portfolio suite, which were additive, but also gave Aberdeen Standard a new platform – which is ETFs, which would be a new platform for growth,” Stan Kiang, Director, Strategic Accounts for Aberdeen Standard Investments, said at the Charles Schwab IMPACT 2018 conference.
Mergers and acquisitions are a natural evolution of the business that has allowed some money managers whom were late to the ETF game to step right in and keep up with all the forerunners.