Fifteen per cent of independent financial advisers (IFAs) in a study said they expected to increase their clients’ exposure to ETFs this year.
The number, accounting for one-in-seven of the 141 IFAs surveyed, is far outweighed by those who expected their client allocations to remain the same (70%).
Source, an ETF provider that commissioned the research, also found 3% of the IFAs expected to decrease their clients’ exposure to the passive vehicles.
Previous Source research from last year found average client assets in ETFs and similar products was 12% and over half of the respondents said ETFs accounted for up to 15% of their clients’ assets under management.
The latest figures follow an educational campaign among UK IFAs by the ETF Forum, which is made up of providers including ETF Securities and BMO Global Asset Management. Source is not a member.
HSBC Global Asset Management announced this month that it had joined the Forum.
Mark Weekes, the CEO of ETF Securities, recently told Funds Europe that last year’s roadshow reached 200 advisers across 18 cities. The Forum recently announced more dates this year.
More broadly, the Source research found that 56% of IFAs expected assets under management in ETFs globally to rise further this year, following record global inflows of $389 billion (€449 billion) in 2016.
Again 3% expected assets levels to remain the same, while 56% thought levels would decrease.
Chris Mellor, executive director, equity product management at Source, said: “We are seeing increasing interest from IFAs and other intermediaries in ETFs and expect 2017 to be another strong year of growth among this stakeholder base.”
©2017 funds europe
