Matthew Robinson

Would the intern buy an ETF?

Matthew Robinson: Even many advisors are bewildered when it comes to choosing among 800 different ETFs.

ETFs

iShares

Vanguard

Cogent Research

ETF Trends

StreetOne Financial

A look at the numbers shows that exchange traded funds are starting to move in lockstep with RIAs and vice-versa. RIAs invested $496 billion in ETFs in the 12-month period ended June 30, 2015 – that’s a $78 billion increase compared to the same period the year before. By comparison, the wirehouse channel added 20% fewer ETF assets, or $397 billion in the last year; granted, an amount that was $70 billion greater than its aggregate investment during the same 12-month period the year before, according to Broadridge Financial Solutions. RIAs that manage portfolios and make discretionary investment choices for their clients value ETFs because they provide advisors with easy access to market segments at a cheap price – an especially important factor for RIAs who are compensated on an asset-fee basis. Fee-based advisors appreciate ETFs’ tax efficiency, liquidity and broad exposure at low cost. Conversely, RIAs are a prized channel for ETF-makers like State Street, Invesco, PowerShares, Vanguard Group and BlackRock. ETFs are also a major ingredient in portfolios devised by robo-advisors -- essentially automated RIAs -- for the mass affluent who invest more than 90% of their assets using ETFs.

After an investigation into ETFs, Matt Robinson, RIABiz's intern from the fall, says he wants the low-stress approach to investing

Would the intern buy an ETF?

Related Moves

December 3, 2022 at 3:16 AM

RIABiz Directory

White Paper Postings

Special Sections

Common Tags

Recent Articles

Popular Writers

RIABiz

Directory

Archives

Connect