“Broadly speaking, new sponsors will have opportunity by adding new value, likely more niche products,” Powers told RIABiz. “First, there is a large population of incumbents, and second, there is little opportunity to compete at a profitable scale. If [new products] don’t differentiate in product design or exposures, some form of traditional active is how many firms look at ETF’s as ‘my only shot.'”
Related: Morningstar ETF Conference Highlighted Hot Button Topics
Vanguard Group is also pushing toward actively managed ETFs as the money manager recently received regulatory approval to offer ETF versions of its actively managed mutual funds.
All-in-all, the decision to merge the ETF Conference to MIC may not be interpreted as a bad thing. It just goes to show that the passive, index-based ETF space has grown so large and prominent among investors where it can stand on equal footing with something catered around the huge open-end, mutual fund industry.
For more information on ETF-related conferences, visit our ETF conferences category.