The series was given birth after Hartford Funds found in a recent survey that a lack of familiarity with these investment products prevented both advisors and investors from exploring strategic beta or smart beta ETFs.
In a survey of 800 investors and over 300 financial advisors on smart beta ETFs, Hartford Funds discovered that 62% of advisors were familiar with smart beta ETFs but 72% either don’t use them at all or only have a 0 to 10% of client portfolio assets invested in the solutions. Of the advisors who did not invest in smart beta ETFs, 41% say it was because they are unfamiliar with the strategy. The findings were similar down to investors, with only 14% claiming familiarity with smart beta.
“As strategic beta ETFs proliferate the marketplace, advisors have an enormous opportunity to educate themselves and their clients about their potential advantages,” Lucas said. “These investment products have the potential to help clients solve for specific objectives like growth, volatility and income – typically at a lower cost than traditional actively managed mutual funds.”
Consequently, Hartford Fund’s whiteboard video series may help both advisors and investors gain better insights into the various aspects of smart beta ETF investments. The initial episodes will cover topics like the “the space between” or bridging the gap between passive and active investing and defining smart beta ETFs, along with other broad ETF-related educational pieces that cover the underlying creation and redemption process and liquidity.
For more information on smart beta strategies, visit our smart beta category.