European asset owners lead the world in adopting smart beta indices, well ahead of investors in North America and Asia.
FTSE Russell data shows Europe has had the highest adoption rates of smart beta over the last three years with 52% of European asset owners surveyed having adopted smart beta indices, compared to 28% in North America and 38% in Asia.
The index provider also found that European asset owners with under $1 billion (€0.9 billion) in assets generated the largest growth in smart beta take-up rates; in this segment, adoption has grown from 15% in 2014 to 47% in 2016.
Over half of European asset owners with smart beta allocations put more than 20% of their equity portfolios in smart beta investment vehicles.
The FTSE Russell survey also revealed that cost savings is a primary objective for asset owners above $10 billion.
“The survey demonstrates accelerating interest in and implementation of smart beta indexes among global institutional asset owners,” said Peter Gunthorp, managing director of European research at FTSE Russell.
The firm surveyed 253 asset owners with combined assets of over $2 trillion globally.
©2016 funds europe
