ANZ make ETF play via joint venture
ANZ has become the first bank to move into the provision of exchange traded funds (ETF) and has set up a joint venture company to initially offer six ETF products via the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
The new company, ANZ ETFS Management (ANZ ETFS), has been formed after the bank teamed with London based exchange traded product provider ETF Securities and will be staffed by executives from both organisations.
ETF Securities Head of Australia and New Zealand, Danny Laidler, will co-lead the Sydney based company with as Co-Head and Head of Distribution alongside ANZ Global Markets Director of Business Execution Adam Smith who will be Co-Head and Chief Operating Officer of the joint venture.
The six ETFs will be offered to financial advisers and investors with three of them to be based on S&P Dow Jones Indices — the S&P ASX 100 Index, the S&P 500 Low Volatility High Dividend Index and a new S&P/ASX 300 Shareholder Yield Index, with the latter covering Australian listed companies with high shareholder yields.
Three other ETFs will be offered as a physical US Dollar ETF, a physical offshore Renminbi ETF and a physical gold ETF, with further ETFs to be in Australia and other Asia-Pacific markets.
ETF Securities chair Graham Tuckwell his group has teamed with ANZ because interest in ETFs had hit record levels in the past year after a slow start in which Australia had been among the early adopters of ETFs in the early 2000's but had seen other markets adopt them in greater numbers over time.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
Recommended for you
Clime Investment Management has welcomed an independent director to its board, which follows a series of recent appointments at the company.
Ethical investment manager Australian Ethical has cited the ongoing challenging market environment for its modest decrease in assets over the latest quarter.
Commentators have said Australian fund managers are less knowledgeable compared with overseas peers when it comes to expanding their range with ETFs and underestimating the competition from passive strategies.
VanEck is to list two ETFs on the ASX next week, one investing in residential mortgage-backed securities and the other in Indian companies.
