ETFs are playing an expanding role in Latin American institutions portfolios, as investors boost allocations and apply ETFs to new asset classes and functions.
Total U.S. equity commission payments from institutional investors to brokers have fallen for eight consecutive years and are now down 45% from their peak.
Commercial banks’ inability to keep pace with the digital capabilities of consumer platforms like Amazon, Uber and other slick retail banking websites is frustrating U.S. executives, who continue to struggle with cumbersome and often manual documentation and compliance requirements.
Facing a set of fast-changing global market conditions, European institutional investors are utilizing the versatility of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to adjust their portfolios, and integrating ETFs more deeply into both tactical and strategic investment processes and strategies.
Canadian institutions that use ETFs allocate an average 18.8% of total assets to exchange-traded funds (ETFs)— the highest average allocation found in any institutional market in the world.
Although U.S. pension funds are looking to address a serious funding crisis through allocations to alternative investments such as private equity and illiquid credit, many funds are still overlooking another tool that improves risk-adjusted investment returns and helps restore funding levels: exchange-listed options.
Investment in ETFs surged last year in Asian institutional fixed-income portfolios, where allocations to ETFs grew to 17.1% of total fixed-income assets, from just 6.6% in 2016.
The continued pressure on plan sponsors to close funding gaps while managing risk is forcing U.S. institutional investors to take a hard look at their portfolio allocations.