Hedge Funds To Spur 30% Growth In Global ETF Assets

Date: Thursday, September 30, 2010
Author: Murray Coleman, Barron's

A new analysis piece looking at alternative investment markets concludes that hedge fund managers are shifting gears and creating ETFs at a pace that could spur up to a 30% growth in assets this year.

The report comes out the same day that a major industry trade group published findings showing that ETF assets in the U.S. fell in August to $800.9 billion, down more than $20 million from a month earlier.

But the article cites global figures, in particular a quarterly report by BlackRock Inc. (BLK).

“We expect to see more hedge funds looking to create ETFs with their own funds as the underlying exposure in an effort to broaden their distribution capabilities,” predicted the BlackRock report.

The article draws on other research as well. The trend clearly seems to be shifting as hedge fund managers — just like traditional mutual funds — are including ETFs in their products to lower costs and improve trading efficiencies.